loo THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



yearly returns to its old nesting places. The nest is 

 always made in a covered site, either in a cranny or a 

 cleft of the cliffs, or in the tower of a cathedral or a 

 mosque, and when in the cliffs is generally inaccessible, 

 being as far up the cleft as possible. The nest is flat 

 and saucer-shaped, and is composed of dry grass, scraps 

 of paper and fir bark, bits of straw, and dead leaves, 

 all more or less cemented together and covered with the 

 dry saliva or mucous fluid which must of necessity get 

 upon them whilst being conveyed to the hole and 

 arranged in place ; the lining is of feathers. Nests are 

 often placed close together. Hume describes a cluster 

 of three or four nests grouped together in one solid mass, 

 in a series of chambers ; whilst Mr. Wilson, who recently 

 examined the colony of this species in Berne Cathedral, 

 found several nests within a space of three yards on the 

 same beam. The Rev. H. A. Macpherson, who has also 

 visited this colony, states that he noticed green grass in 

 many of the nests. Canon Tristram has found a nest in 

 a cave on Mount Gilead which appeared to have been 

 made in the deserted nest of a Rock Nuthatch {Sitta 

 syriaca). 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eesfs of the White-bellied Swift are from two to 

 four in number, but the usual clutch is two, the larger 

 number probably being made up by two females. They 

 are very long and narrow, without gloss, almost chalky 

 in texture, and pure white. Average measurement, i*2 

 inch in length by 77 inch in breadth. Incubation is 

 performed by both sexes, the male relieving the female 

 at the nest, but the duration of the period is apparently 

 unknown. 



Diagnostic characters : The large size of the eggs 

 of this Swift prevents them from being confused with 

 those of any other European species. 



