THE TIDE HAS TURNED 373 
larger than a Bank Swallow, and long, strong wings, it 
dominates the air in which it lives and feeds, and so 
little does it use its feet that it does not perch Chimney 
on them, but brackets itself against post, wall, Swift 
or chimney, Woodpecker fashion, the sharp, pointed quills 
of its short tail acting as a brace. 
“In colour the Chimney Swift is sooty gray, and as it 
darts about the sky it looks like a winged spruce cone, the 
wings being held further forward in flight than those of 
the average bird. 
“‘ Like their cousins the Nighthawks, they feed chiefly 
in early morning and late afternoon, though in the nesting 
season this work continues all day. In the old wild days, 
like many another bird, this Swift built its basket nest of 
twigs and bird glue on the inside wall of hollow trees, 
but when man came, hollow trees went, and so, with the 
happy adaptability of Heart of Nature himself, the bird 
moved to the hollow chimneys of man’s own invention, 
and so, unwittingly, descended from his sky parlour and 
became the one real fireside bird that we have. And 
for this companionship he is willing to brave the risk of 
being smoked out and having sparks scorch his nest. 
“Now that wide-mouthed stone chimneys are also dis- 
appearing, what remains for this Swift? We do not 
know, unless he changes his home to the open air and 
builds his bracket nests on outside walls. 
“The Swift folds his wings and dives down the chimney 
to his nest silently as a bird cleaves the water, but when he 
rises, a roar of rapidly whirring wings marks the ascent, 
so that sometimes it annoys the people in whose rooms 
the chimney opens. Last summer, in the old orchard- 
