WHITE-BELLIED SWIFT. 613 



tained, in March 1883, at Rathfarnham in Ireland. Mr Har- 

 ley, of Leicester, informs me that between five and six o'clock 

 of the evening of the 23d September 1839, he saw an indivi- 

 dual of this species, which he says he could not possibly have 

 mistaken. " The stretch of the wings having been much too 

 great for the common Swift, probably not less than eighteen 

 or twenty inches. The throat, breast, and belly, down as low 

 as the vent, appeared white. The evening was serene, and 

 the bird was gliding gently along, at the height of fifteen or 

 twenty yards. Its motion in passing overhead was just like 

 the shoot of the Windhover through the air." 



About the middle of spring, the White-bellied Swift passes 

 from Africa to the European countries bordering on the Medi- 

 terranean, many individuals proceeding as far as the Tyrol, 

 Switzerland, and the parts of France adjoining the Alps. M. 

 Temminck states that it is very abundant at Gibraltar, in 

 Sardinia, Malta, and the islands of the Archipelago. Its 

 places of repose are precipices and the most elevated parts of 

 buildings, in the crevices and against the walls of which it 

 fixes its nest, which is formed of straws and moss kept to- 

 gether by some glutinous substance. The eggs, three or four 

 in number, are white, and of an elongated form. 



Young. — When fledged, the young are similar to the adult, 

 but with all the dark feathers on the upper parts margined 

 with paler, and those on the lower having a semilunar termi- 

 nal white band. 



Remaeks. — Not having seen this species alive, or obtained 

 recent individuals, I have taken my descriptions from preserved 

 skins. 



