252 SWIFT. 



extreme north of Scotland it is somewhat irregular in its visits, and 

 it is only seen occasionally in the Orkneys and Shetlands ; while on 

 the west side it is of rare occurrence in Skye and in the Outer 

 Hebrides, including St. Kilda. To Ireland it is a regular visitor, 

 and though said to be rare in some parts of the west, it is common 

 in Mayo and Sligo. 



To the Fseroes the Swift is only a straggler, but it is found in 

 Scandinavia up to 70° N. lat., and in Russia as far as Archangel ; 

 in Siberia it has occurred at Omsk, and breeds regularly in Daiiria, 

 Mongolia, Northern China, and Asia generally to the north of the 

 Himalayas and other great ranges. On migration it visits the Punjab 

 and even the Andaman Islands, but from India westward to the 

 Jordan valley- the resident species is the white-rumped C. affinis ; 

 while in Northern Africa our bird is either associated with or repre- 

 sented by C. pallidus, also found in Southern Spain and in the 

 Canaries ; the latter group being further occupied by the smaller 

 and darker C. unicolor. Throughout Europe the Swift is abundant 

 in summer, often arriving in the sunny south early in March, though 

 not till June in Lapland ; while its migrations extend to the extreme 

 south of Africa. 



Holes in thatch under the eaves of cottages and other buildings, 

 in church towers, crevices in sea-clifts, quarries, chalk-pits, and even 

 trees, are the sites selected by the Swift for its breeding-place, to 

 which it returns year after year. A few bits of straw and grass, with 

 feathers, collected on the wing, and glued together by the viscous 

 secretions of the bird, form its usual nest, but it sometimes robs 

 Martins, House-Sparrows and even Starlings of their dwellings. 

 The eggs, laid early in June, are 2 in number, and when more are 

 found in the same nest, they are probably the produce of two 

 females ; they are oval, rough in texture, and dead-white : average 

 measurements i in. by '65 in. Incubation lasts eighteen days, and 

 as a rule only one brood is produced during the season ; backward 

 young being abandoned by their parents when the time arrives for 

 emigration. Insects taken on the wing form the food, and the in- 

 digestible portions are rejected in the shape of pellets. The wild, 

 screeching note is sometimes quite startling, when uttered by a flock 

 of birds sweeping by at lightning speed, and often in the worst of 

 weather, for the Swift seems to revel in the storm. 



The plumage of the adults is a bronzed blackish-brown, with a 

 small greyish patch under the chin ; bill, toes and claws black. 

 Length to the tip of the tail 6*5 in. ; wing 7 in. The young have 

 more white on the throat, and paler margins to the feathers. 



