SWALLOWS. 95 



Everybody has seen Swifts, but they arc not nearly so familiarly known 

 as the other kinds of Swallows, and the reason is two-fold. First, almost 

 every individual dwelling has its pair or more of Swallows, and there are 

 always several colonies of House Martins in every hamlet and town; whilst 

 we very seldom find more than one colony, or two at the farthest, of 

 Swifts, in any single district. And secondly, because whilst the building 

 of the Swallow and Martin is notorious, the nesting of the Swift is carried 

 on completely under cover, or in secret, as it were, in church steeples and 

 other hidden places. And their motions are so quick that their very figure 

 cannot be so distinctly seen as that of birds which are sometimes passive; 

 and hence, although every one knows a Swift when they see it, it is merely 

 known in passing, and we cannot help attaching a wild notion to its habits 

 and mode of life, for there can scarce be supposed any limit to the aerial 

 rambles of a creature which probably courses through the sky at a speed 

 of sixty miles per hour! what rate he could fly at is quite another matter. 



His body is remarkably small for the extent of his wing, but at the same 

 time the shoulders are so very muscular, that he is evidently capable of en- 

 during immense exertion without fatigue. His flight is generally easy, and 

 he glides quite as much as he flies. Sometimes you may see whole parties 

 of these birds at a vast height, preceding a heavy shower, feasting upon the 

 higher flying insects, which the rush of air, caused by the approaching rain, 

 drives before it; at other times they will glide along quite low. They never 

 settle, at least so seldom that it is not an incorrect statement, as a general 

 proposition; and never on the ground, for if they do they have great 

 difficulty in rising again, for their feet and legs are very short and small, 

 and the toes so jointed as to clasp together at the centre from four points, 

 and eminently calculated to cling; hence they can crawl up any paling 

 and under eaves with great facility. 



Their colour is black entirely, with the exception of the chin, which 

 is white in the cock bird and dull grey in the hen. The head and upper 

 parts of the former are also covered with bronze reflections. The head 

 is large and flat, and a projecting process is observable over the eyes, 

 which are large and black. The mouth very much resembles that of the 

 Nightjar; the tail is short and forked. The wings are extraordinarily and 

 almost preposterously elongated, the quill feathers being as long as those of 

 birds twenty times his bulk! Great doubts have been entertained whether 

 this bird ever builds a nest at all, or rather, whether he ever collects 

 materials for the home he provides for his young; for this so nearly resembles 

 that of the House Sparrow, only much smaller, and is so often built in 

 the same situations, that it is highly probable a summary ejection of the 

 rightful owner takes place, or what is more probable still, an old nest may 

 sometimes serve his turn just as well. Of these statements, however, we 



