440 



NATURAL HISTOllY OF lilllDS. 



iiig cut belong here, and are two well-known European species, the Alpine swift 

 (J/, melba), larger, brownish gray, whitish beneath with a dusky gorget, from the 

 Bouthern parts, and the common swift (JL apits), sooty black all over, cxcej)t the 

 whitish throat, of more general distribution. It nests under the tiles of llie roofs or 

 in church-steeples, and makes itself very conspicuous in the evening by circling and 

 hawking around the building in small troops, kee])ing uj) an incessant and penetrating 

 scream as they pass by with incredible rapidity of flight. The North American white- 

 tliroated swift {M. mdanoleucus) is nearly allied. 



Fio. 221 . — Microput melba, Alpine swift (upper figure); tf. ajnm, rommon European swift (lower flgore). 



There is found in tro])icnl America a group of small swifts, outwardly resembling 

 the swiftlets very much, but so closely allied to the .ibove that a separate generic 

 name ( Tachomis) is now thought to be sujierfluous. A member of this group is the 

 .laniaicnn jmlm-swift (Jflcropiis phfnicuhUi), which we mention specially for its 

 interesting nest-building. Gosse describes namely two entirely different nests of this 

 bird according to whether tliey build in a cocoanut palm or a palmetto. In the 

 former case they were formed chiefly in the hollow spathes of the leaves, and were 



