oidqi^f) 



Vol. V. 



AUGUST, 1879. 



No. 2. 



Nest of the Chimney Swift (Chae- 

 tura pelasgia). 



.stock buildings. It would seem that these 

 places came to be occupied by natural se- 

 lection, for the unused and dihipidated chim- 

 fT has long been the custom of the ; neys so plentiful all over the country are 

 Chimney Switts in many parts of the ; in many cases deserted. An exan)iiiation 

 {i;^^ country, to build their nests in barns ' of a dozen chimneys showed about one-half 

 and outbuildings, attaching them to the ver- ; to have been occupied at some period, but 

 tical surface of the boards ; and this habit ' not recently ; while the others seemed nev- 



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1 I ■ 



i II'- 



NEST AND EGGS OF CENTURA PELASGIA 



has become so general that in certain dis- 

 tricts the number of their n>3sts placed in 

 these situations is fully tenfold as large as 

 the number built in chimneys. This is only 

 true in the country and in retired places ; 

 but the inducements oflered must be often 

 very great, for many nests are found close 

 together in the ends of isolated barns and 



er to have been used. Comparison of nests 

 from both situations, however, fails to re- 

 veal any difference, either in structui'e or in 

 materials. 



The nests are made entirely of dead twigs, 

 and the uniformity in the size of the latter 

 is quite worthy of notice, for few or none 

 exceed an eiirhth of an inch in diameter and 



