OUR CHIMNEY DWELLERS 19 



its body to its weak feet except at such times as when in 

 the hollow breast of a great tree, or down 

 tlie yawning throat of a chiro.ney, it can cling 

 perpendicularly to the wall, braced from below 

 by its tail, each feather of which ends in a stiff 

 needle-like outgrowth. 



In the early morning we hastened out to see if 

 the swifts were up and away. Over the rim of the 

 chimney we found them coming, singly, by twos, 

 by threes, by fours; making long sweeps toward 

 the earth with the first bound ; then mounting high 

 in the air with innumerable twitterings, they would 

 be off for the day's experiences. At five minutes 

 of six o'clock they ceased to appear. More than 

 eight hundred had been counted within fifteen min- 

 utes. Something unexpected now happened. Back 

 into the chimney came rushing the swifts. In ten minutes 

 one hundred and sixteen had re-entered. What could it 

 mean! Up from the east a dark, threatening cloud was 

 moving. The swifts had espied it, and all those which by 

 this time were not far afield came hurrying back to the 

 chimney of refuge. 



For many evenings we watched these birds. They 

 always went to roost in the same way, going through the 

 same performances. For more than two weeks they con- 



