THE SWIFT FAMILY 151 
graph-wire or a roof. A swift is said never to 
alight except to sleep. 
This bird is so much at home on wing that he 
even gets the twigs to make the nest while flying. 
These twigs are the smallest ones on the ends of 
dead branches, and are easily snapped off. The 
bird flies at them, snatches one in beak or feet, 
breaks it off, and goes right on, without stopping. 
When he gets his twig, he carries it to a dark, 
sooty chimney. A queer place for a home, surely. 
They used to choose a hollow tree or a cave to 
live in, and that seems much nicer. But chimneys 
are now more plentiful than hollow trees. And 
besides, they are nearer the bird’s food. So 
chimney homes are now the fashion in the swift 
family. 
To make a swift nest, the twigs are glued to the 
chimney in the shape of a little bracket. The 
glue is the saliva of the bird, which is gummy, 
and gets hard as it dries, and looks like isinglass. 
The mouth of a chimney swift is very odd. You 
have heard of “stretching a mouth from ear to 
ear.” That’s just what the swift does every time 
he opens his. It needs to be big, for he gathers 
up his food in it. While he is flying around in 
the air, he is busy catching tiny flying creatures, 
such as flies and beetles, and thus keeping the 
air clear for us. 
