SWIFTS loi 



Indian swift {Cypselus affinis) and the palm swift {C. 

 batassiensis). 



The latter need not detain us long. It is a small 

 and weak edition of the former. It builds a cup- 

 shaped nest on the under side of the great fan-like 

 leaves of the toddy palm. 



The Indian swift is, in size and appearance, much 

 like the swift which visits England every summer, except 

 for the fact that it has a white patch on the lower part 

 of the back. The chin is white, but all the rest of the 

 plumage, with the exception of the above-mentioned 

 patch, is black or smoky brown. 



This bird nests in colonies in the verandahs of houses 

 and inside deserted buildings. The nest is a cup- 

 shaped structure, usually built under an eave in the 

 angle which a roof-beam makes with the wall. Thus 

 the swift finds, ready-made, a roof and a couple of walls, 

 and has merely to add the floor and remaining walls, 

 in one of which it leaves a hole by way of entrance to 

 the nursery. Thus the swift reverses the usual order 

 of things, which is to erect a nest on some foundation 

 such as a branch or ledge. 



As we have seen, all four toes of the swift are for- 

 wardly directed and each is terminated by a sharp 

 hook-like claw. Thus the swift is able to cling with 

 ease to such a vertical surface as that of a wall, and is 

 therefore quite independent of any ledge or perch. 

 The nest is a conglomeration of grass, straw, and 

 feathers, which are made to adhere to one another, and 

 to the building to which the nest is attached, by the 

 cement-like saliva of the bird. 



