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A swallow chose a dangerous, noisy spot for its nest, showing surprising adaptability and care.
An English swallow once selected a strange resting-place. At Corton, Lowestoft, England, a naturalist discovered a swallow’s nest with young birds in it on the revolving part of the machinery of a common windmill.
The particular spot chosen was the “wallomer,” the outer edge of one of the wheels. The revolutions averaged thirty a minute, and the naturalist estimated that in that time the nest traveled about one hundred and eighty feet. The young birds would certainly be experienced travelers before they left such a nest.
The mother bird, when sitting, usually traveled tail foremost, and when she entered or left the mill she had to make use of the hole through which the laying shaft projected. To do this it was necessary for her to dodge the sails, which were, of course, hung close to the wall of the mill.
When the creaking and shaking of the machinery of a windmill is taken into account, one can hardly fail to be struck with the peculiar taste of the bird that chose such an apparently uncongenial spot in which to rear her young.--_Harper’s Weekly._