THE SWIFT 123 



and appears to be equally uncommon in France. A few have 

 been shot in Norfolk, and in the high latitudes both of the Old and 

 New Worlds it is a common resident on the rocky coasts. It builds 

 its nest on the ground, and shares in the great characteristic of the 

 family, that, namely, of soaring and singing simultaneously. In 

 colouring, it is strongly marked by its black gorget and crest. 



ORDER PICARIi^ 



FAMILY CYPSELIDtE 

 THE SWIFT 



CYPSELUS APUS 



General plumage sooty brown ; chin greyish white ; tarsi feathered ; bill 

 feet, and claws, shining black. Length eight inches ; width seventeen 

 inches. Eggs pure white. 



The Swift is, perhaps, the strongest and swiftest, not merely of 

 the Swallow tribe, but of all birds ; hence a voyage from Southern 

 Africa ^ to England is performed without overtaxing its strength. 

 It stands in need of no rest after this prodigious flight, but imme- 

 diately on its arrival starts with a right good wiUonits pursuit of 

 food, as if its journey had been but a pleasant course of training 

 for its daily vocation. With respect to temperature, however, 

 its powers of endurance are limited ; it never proceeds far north- 

 wards, and occasionally even suffers from unseasonably severe 

 weather in the temperate climates where it fixes its summer residence. 

 Mr. F. Smith, of the British Museum, related in the Zoologist,^ 

 that, at Deal, on the eighth of July, 1856, after a mild but wet day, the 

 temperature suddenly fell till it became disagreeably cold. The 

 Swifts were sensibly affected by the atmospheric change ; they 

 flew unsteadily, fluttered against the walls of the houses, and 

 some even flew into open windows. ' Whilst observing these 

 occurrences ', he says, ' a girl came to the door to ask me if I wanted 

 to buy a bat ; she had heard, she told me, that I bought all kinds 

 of bugs, and her mother thought I might want a bat. On her 

 producing it, I was astonished to find it was a poor benumbed 

 Swift. The girl told me they were dropping down in the streets, 

 and the boys were killing all the bats ; the church, she said, was 

 covered with them. Off I started to witness this strange sight and 

 slaughter. True enough ; the children were charging them every- 



1 Livingstone mentions his having seen in the plains north of Kuruman a 

 Hock of Swifts, computed to contain upwards of 4,000 individuals. 

 * September, 1856, p. 5249. 



