184 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



from the nests of our chimney swift^ and I do not think 

 it would serve that purpose well. Even if all the sticks 

 were strained out^ so much smoke and soot settles on the 

 nest as it is drying that I am sure it would taste more 

 like soot soup than like bird's-nest soup. 



The nests are usually built several feet from the top of 

 the chimney, and are almost flat on the side that touches 

 the chimney. In fact, they look very much like half nests 

 stuck against the bricks. 



No one need have trouble in recognizing the chimney 

 swift, for it is the only bird that enters, much less nests, 

 in chimneys. A little observation will make it easy to 

 recognize this bird even in the air, for the only birds that 

 much resemble it in flight are the martins and swallows, 

 and all of these that are found in the neighborhood of a 

 house appear considerably larger than Mr. and Mrs. Swift. 



As a child I wondered how Mrs. Swift managed to get 

 her youngsters out of their nest. Usually some morning 

 after the birds had been exceptionally noisy and anno5dng 

 the noise would cease, and going out into the yard we 

 would find the family sitting on the edge of the chimney 

 top or on the comb of the roof. It was never more than 

 two or three hours till they were flying about apparently 

 as active as their parents, and we were not able to tell 

 which were the young, except when the old birds fed them. 

 This they do for two or three weeks after they can fly, 

 feeding them while in full flight in mid-air. When 

 feeding, both birds remain practically still in the air, hov- 

 ering much as a humming bird does in front of a flower. 



Almost every summer some over-ambitious bird would 

 jump out of the nest before he was able to get to the top 

 of the chimney and then we would hear his cries of dis- 



