432 



PICARIAN' BIRDS 



took place in 1866 ; but there seems to be no instance of the species 



having been observed in Scotland. 



This swift, with the exception of some of the larger species of the 



needle-tailed swifts, is probably the swiftest and most powerful fl>'er of 



all birds. Roosting and nesting on tall cliffs in large companies, it flies 



daily enormous dis- 

 tances — in some 

 cases hundreds of 

 miles — in search of 

 food ; but in other 

 respects is very simi- 

 lar in habits to the 

 black-bellied species. 

 Of the needle-tailed 

 swift {C/uetiira caiu^- 

 ncit/a), whose range 

 extends from Siberia 

 to Australasia, one 

 example was taken 

 in Essex in the sum- 

 mer of 1846, while 

 a second, which was 

 accompanied by its 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND WARD BTUDIOS 



ALI'INE SWIFT. 



mate, was killed at 

 the same time of 

 year in Hampshire in 

 1879. These birds differ from the true swifts in having the lower 

 part of the leg, which is comparatively long, bare of feathers, and b}- 

 the shortness of the tail, which is scarcely forked, and largely ex- 

 ceeded in length by the wings. They also agree with most birds in 

 the number of joints in the toes, whereas in the front-toes of the typical 

 swifts these are reduced to three in each. 



.. According to the system here followed, the roller, 



,_ . , , the bee-eater, the kingfisher, and the hoopoe are in- 



(Coracias garrula). , , , . . , '^ r 1 • 1 1 



eluded ni a smgle group, of which each represents a 



scj:)aratc family ; but for the purpose of the present work it will be 



unnecessary to give either such characteristics as are common to these 



and the other representatives of the group, or the distinctive features 



of the individual families. Rather smaller than a jackdaw, but of 



more slender build and with a somewhat longer beak and much longer 



