Even the bird itself has found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she has put her young ones​—your grand altar, O Jehovah of armies, my King and my God!”​—Ps. 84:1-3.

Only once every half year one of the courses or divisions of the nonpriestly Levites served an entire week at the temple. Consequently, the major portion of the year they would spend at their personal homes with their families in the Levite cities. On the other hand, small birds may have found a more permanent place to live at the temple.