 Jean Desbouvrie was raised in a village near Roubaix where he worked as a messenger for his father . During his youth he had an avid interest in birds and was determined to disprove general belief that swallows were impossible to tame , so from the age of eleven onward he robbed nests between his work deliveries . Over time he managed to get a dozen swallows to follow him . According to a report published in 1889 , " They would fly round his head and perch on his shoulders in the open street . " 
