Swift WESTERN BIRDS 



GENUS CH^^TUEA: CHIMNEY SWIFT. 



Chimney Swift: Chcetura peldgica. 

 FAMILY— SWIFTS. 



Probably every one in the eastern United States is 

 familiar with the Chimney Swift, or Swallow, as it is 

 often erroneously called, since it is an abundant summer 

 resident as far west as eastern Montana and eastern 

 Texas. 



It is rather less than five and one-half inches long and 

 is a sooty-gray, which becomes lighter on the throat. 

 The shafts of the tail feathers extend beyond the vanes, 

 thus enabling the birds to prop themselves against the 

 chimney, or other surface, in the way the Woodpeckers 

 do against the trees. 



In its manner of skimming through the air and in its 

 habit of destroying vast numbers of insects which no 

 other birds could obtain, it resembles the Swallows, and 

 we cannot wonder at their being mistaken for them; yet 

 we are told that they are constructed much like the 

 dainty Hummingbirds and so belong in a group with 

 them. 



They have gained their name because of their fond- 

 ness for building in chimneys. The nest is a shallow 

 affair which is made of twigs and glued by the birds with 

 a sticky saliva which Nature has given them for that 

 purpose. The manner in which they obtain these twigs 

 is most interesting. Instead of picking them from the 

 ground, or other available place, they break the dead 

 pieces from the trees with their feet while they are flying 

 at full speed. Rather, the bird seizes the twig in its 

 feet and the impact of the body breaks it off. 



Many people cover their chimneys to avoid these birds 

 nestmg in them. They also spend their nights in these 



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