24 CHIMNEY SWIFT 



the large chimneys of church or court-house. In 

 Wooster, Ohio, Mr. Oberholser has seen as many 

 as a thousand about the court-house, and large 

 numbers have been noted in Norwich, Conn. It 

 is interesting to watch their movements. As 

 Nuttall says, when the birds go to roost, " before 

 descending, they fly in large flocks, making many 

 ample and circuitous sweeps in the air ; and as 

 the point of the vortex falls, individuals drop into 

 the chimney by degrees, until the whole have 

 descended." 



However much we believe in change of scene, 

 it seems odd for a balloonist to live in a cellar, to 

 be coursing about among the stars one moment, 

 hung up on the wall of a dark sooty flue the 

 next; but the Swifts are quite put to it, for it 

 would be very bad form, in fact do outrage to all 

 the traditions of the race, if one of them were 

 to perch on a tree for a moment. There is 

 actually no record of their alighting anywhere 

 except in a hollow tree or chimney. They even 

 gather their nesting materials on the wing, break- 

 ing off bits of twig in their feet and, it is said, 

 with their bills, literally, in passing. Accord- 

 ingly, as by our deeds the world knows us, their 

 wings are developed till they look like strips of 

 cardboard more than bunches of feathers, out- 

 doing those of their Hummingbird connections, 

 who transact their business as tliey go. On the 

 other hand, their feet, like those of Chinese ladies, 



