Nose dive, wings aflutter. Float,
Plunge and coast. Then sudden rise,
Spiraling upward to remote,
Invisible belfries in the skies.
Gleam of flint and shafter tail.
Wind fleet. Darting fun.
Top the air, set wings and sail—
Arrow piercing thru the sun.
— Ruth Henderson
The span of human life is far too brief for an individual to perceive an evolutionary phase. The pace of change is accelerating and today some variations are noticeable. A quarter of a century ago it was fashionable to wear dead birds on hats! In 1886 George Grinnell, Editor of "Forest and Stream," in a scathing editorial denounced the barbaric custom and changed public attitude so effectually that in a few years murdered birds as decorations were out of the picture. I have seen many Swallows' bodies plastered jauntily above women's fair brows!
Morals may be more lenient today, in some channels, yet our fair play ethics are advancing for the little people of wood and sky.
There are no English Sparrows in Chickadee Valley and our Swallow population does not decrease. It is good to hear their cheerful twittering on the porch roof in the early sunlight and to watch their pursuit of a windblown feather. June evenings under the old willows find the amber pond aquiver with circles eddying from their touch and go. They are happy people.
North America from Alaska and northern British provinces south over United States with the exception of Florida.