COMMON SWIFT. 293 
Palestine, Asia Minor, Persia, Turkestan, Afghanistan, Cashmere, and 
probably Nepal, and has once occurred on the Andaman Islands. It 
winters in the Punjaub and throughout the Ethiopian Region as far as it 
is known. In Cape Colony and Natal it is said to be found all the year 
round ; but no reliable instance of its breeding there has been recorded. 
Throughout the southern limits of its breeding-range a slightly paler form 
of the Common Swift occurs, which is generally known by the name of 
C. pallidus ; but as every intermediate form is found in the intervening 
localities, it can only be regarded as a climatic race, found in isolated 
localities where the sun is unusually powerful. In the Canaries and 
Madeira, besides the Common Swift, a small island form occurs, C. unicolor, 
with a wing less than six inches in length, which is probably specifically 
distinct. Still smaller Swifts of nearly the same colour occur in India and 
elsewhere. 
The arrival of the Swift in this country is almost as important an event 
in spring as that of the Swallow and other well-known birds of passage, 
although it seldom remains in our islands longer than four months. It is 
seen at Gibraltar as early as the end of March; and in Palestine, Greece, 
and other parts of Southern Europe it arrives late in that month or early 
in April. It seldom arrives in Central Europe and the south of England 
before the end of April; and in the north of England and the south of 
Scotland it does not usually appear before the beginning of May, although 
an example was once seen by Dr. Saxby in the Shetlands as early as the 
27th of April. It does not reach South Sweden before the middle of 
May, and does not arrive in Lapland before June. Last of migratory 
birds to arrive in spring, it is one of the first to take its departure in - 
autumn. By the end of August most of the young birds have left this 
country ; but late broods and their parents linger on into September, and 
stray examples have been occasionally seen in October and even in 
November. 
The Swift frequents almost all kinds of places, from the plains in the 
neighbourhood of the sea, where it breeds in the cliffs and old ruined 
towers and fortresses, to the upland moors and mountain-lochs, where a 
pair or two may frequently be seen near a shooting-box or gamekeeper’s 
cottage. It loves the town as well as the country, and is especially fond 
of frequenting cathedrals, church-spires, and other lofty buildings. It is 
a very common bird in country towns, but does not occur so plentifully in 
those where large manufactures are carried on; but it haunts almost every 
village. It cannot be called as common a bird as the Swallow or the 
Martin, but it occurs in considerable numbers, sometimes in isolated pairs, 
but more often in small colonies. By far the greater part of its time is 
spent in the air; but it roosts in its nest, and sometimes repairs thither 
during heavy rain. It is an early riser, and its shrill cry may often be 
