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Whethei both birds or only the female took part in the nest-build- 

 ing is uncertain, but it appears to have occupied more than a fortnight. 

 During the nine or ten days of incubation the mate did not appear to 

 roost in the chimney and seems to have been rather remiss in his 

 attentions. Indeed, I did not see the two birds together in the chim- 

 ney during all this time. After the young were hatched, however, 

 which took place on the 13th July, the male became less neglectful of 

 his family duties, taking a fair share of the task of feeding the young, 

 and always spending the night within the flue, not far from the nest. 

 These observations are in accord with the fact that the birds resorting 

 to the tower of the West Block, though somewhat reduced during the 

 latter part of June and the first half of July, still formed a large flock, 

 perhaps half of the original number ; while after the time of hatching 

 out they rapidly dwindled, — no doubt, by the calling away of the males 

 to assist in the care of the young. On the evening of the 2nd of 

 August not more than forty or fifty were seen to enter the tower. 



For the first week the young were kept constantly covered by one 

 or other of the old birds, who relieved each other at intervals of half 

 an hour or an hour. Contrary to the descriptions given in most of the 

 books treating of the swift, these birds seemed to be but poor climbers. 

 They would flutter down from the entrance with wings half open above 

 the back and alight at some little distance from the nest, generally 

 below it. Then after a moment's rest, they weuld scramble up to the 

 nest, half climbing, half flying, being never seen to ascend the wall 

 without the assistance of the fluttering wings. 



There was something about their manner of feeding the young 

 which struck me as remarkable. When one of the parent birds returned 

 from hunting and took its place on the nest, as I have just described, it 

 would not proceed to feed the nestlings until after an interval of several 

 minutes. Then without uncovering the nest it would put its head 

 down and make a sort of contortion of the whole body, and at the 

 same time the young would be heard to peep. This action would sug- 

 gest that the food, instead of being carried in the bill, as is done by 

 other birds when feeding their young, is disgorged from the crop after 

 the manner of the vultures and some seabirds. And may it not be 

 possible that the mucilaginous secretion, so useful to these birds in 



