Picanan Birds. 



95 



The Picarian Birds.— o«/(r Coracuformes. 



THE SWIFTS. 

 Sub-Order CYPSELI. 



These birds may be distinguished from the Passerine Birds by the different 

 arrangement of the tendons of the foot. External characters are less easy to find 

 for their separation, but, as a rule, they nest in holes, and lay white eggs, though 

 the Goatsuckers are an e.xception, as these lay mottled eggs in the open on the 

 ground and the 3-oung are covered with down, whereas the rest of the Picarnc have 

 the young hatched naked. 



Generally these birds have been classed along with the 



Swallows, which they resemble only in e.xternal appearance, 



having the same long wings and feeding on insects in the 

 open air. This resemblance, however, is merelv superficial, for the Swallows and 

 Swifts belong really to different Orders of birds, the former having twelve tail- 

 feathers, and the latter only ten, and the proportions of the wing-bones, the shape 

 of the breast-bone, and the formation of the toes are also different in the two groups. 



This is a large bird, measuring eight-and-a-half inches in 



length, and distinguished by its white under-surface, varied 



only by a brown band across the 



chest and b}- the brown on the 



sides of the body. The home of the 

 species is in Southern and Central Europe east to the 

 Himalayas, and it winters in Northern Africa and m the 

 Indian Peninsula. It has occurred about twenty times in 

 Great Britain, but has not been noticed in Scotland as 

 yet. The nest is a rough structure of earth and rubbish 

 such as leaves, paper and feathers, gathered by the 

 birds themselves on the wing, as their short 

 feet and long wings prevent their rising from the 

 ground, should they be so unfortunate as to be driven to 

 the latter; this is sometimes the case when they first 

 arrive and the weather happens to turn cold, so that the 

 birds become numbed. They are, however, able to 

 cling to rocks with the greatest ease by means of their 

 grasping toes. The eggs are two in number, rarely 

 more, and are pure white. 



THE 



WHITE-BELLIED 



SWIFT. 



{Apiis melbtt.) 



The WHiTE-BELi.n;n Swift. 



