262 SWIFT. 



To the extreme north of Scotland this species is somewhat 

 irregular in its visits, and it is only seen occasionally in the Orkneys 

 and Shetlands ; while on the west side it is not numerous in the 

 Inner Hebrides and is rare in Skye, as well as in the Outer group. 

 To Ireland it is a regular visitor, and, though uncommon in some 

 parts of the west, it is plentiful in Mayo and Sligo. 



To the Faeroes the Swift is an occasional visitor, but it is found in 

 Scandinavia up to 70^ N. lat, and in Russia as far as Archangel. 

 In Asia it breeds to the north of the Western Himalayas ; while on 

 migration it visits the Punjab and has occurred in the Andaman 

 Islands. A pale race inhabits Mongolia and Northern China ; 

 between India and Tunisia the white-rumped C. affinis seems to 

 be resident ; in portions of Northern Africa our bird is either asso- 

 ciated with or represented by the Pallid Swift, which visits Southern 

 Spain and the Canaries ; and the latter islands are also inhabited by 

 the smaller and darker C. iinicolor. Throughout Europe our Swift 

 is abundant in summer, often arriving in the sunny south early in 

 March, though not until June in Lapland ; while on migration it 

 visits Madagascar and the extreme south of Africa, and is said to 

 breed in Natal. 



Holes under the eaves of cottages and other buildings, church 

 towers, crevices in sea-cliffs, quarries, chalk-pits, as well as hollow 

 trees, are the sites selected by the Swift for breeding ; and to these 

 it returns year after year. A few bits of straw and grass, with some 

 feathers, collected on the wing and glued together by the viscous 

 secretion of the bird, form its usual nest, but it sometimes robs 

 of their dwellings Martins, House-Sparrows, and even Starlings. 

 The eggs, laid late in May or early in June, are 2 in number, and 

 when more are found in the same nest, they may be the produce 

 of two females ; they are oval, rough in texture, and dead-white : 

 measurements i in. by -65 in. Incubation lasts eighteen days, and 

 as a rule only one brood is produced in the season ; backward 

 young being abandoned by their parents when the time arrives for 

 emigration. Insects taken on the wing form the food, and the 

 indigestible portions are rejected in the shape of pellets. The wild, 

 screeching note is sometimes startling when uttered by birds 

 sweeping by at lightning speed, and often in the worst of weather, 

 for the Swift seems to revel in the storm. 



The plumage of the adults is a bronzed blackish-brown, with a 

 small greyish patch under the chin ; bill, toes and claws blackish. 

 Length (to the tip of the tail) 6-75 in. ; wing 6-8 in. The young 

 have more white on the throat, and paler margins to the feathers. 



