SWIFTS. 59 



our orchards, gardens, and houses of legions of enemies. They 

 never injure the produce of the soil or cause the slightest damage 

 to mankind, while their lively manners, twittering note, and gentle 

 and affectionate disposition amply repay the shelter which our 

 buildings afford to several species. Their nests, which when dried 

 are hard and rough upon the outside, are well furnished with soft 

 materials within, and the care and attention lavished upon their 

 young progeny cannot but command our admiration. After the 

 young are hatched, both parents are perpetually engaged in bring- 

 ing them food, and as the fledgelings acquire strength it is pleasing 

 to witness the tender care employed by the adults in teaching 

 their family to fly, encouraging them with their voice, presenting 

 food at a little distance, and retiring as the timid nestlings stretch 

 forward ; then pushing them gently from the nest, fluttering before 

 them, and evidently offering in the most expressive tones to pro- 

 tect and assist them. In a day or two, when the young are strong 

 enough to fly, but are still unable to capture their own food, they 

 may be seen fluttering about near to where their parents are busily 

 employed in catching insects, and when the latter have collected a 

 mouthful, on a given signal they mutually advance, rising towards 

 each other and meeting at an angle, the young all the while utter- 

 ing a short, quick note of gratitude and complacency. 



Sub-Fmnily I. 



THE SWIFTS. CVrSELIN.^. 



General Characteristics. — Bill short, depressed, broad at the base, the sides 

 suddenly compressed to the tip, and the margins inflected ; the nostrils large and 

 longitudinal on each side of the culmen ; the wings extremely long and curved ; the 

 tarsi short and weak; the toes short, thick, and armed with short, strong, and much- 

 curved claws ; the hind toe usually directed forwards. 



The Swifts are all birds of migratory habits. They pass most 

 of their days in the air, for which their slender forms and powerful 

 wings are admirably adapted. Their flight is rapid, performed in 

 lengthened sweeps or in extensive curves, with marvellous case 

 and grace. The height to which they ascend is regulated by the 

 state of the atmosphere. On fine days they fly in numbers to- 

 gether at a great elevation ; but during gloomy or damp weather 

 perform their evolutions closer to the ground, or they sometimes 



