300 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 
exercise. At evening, they renew their activity and do not 
retire until a comparatively late hour. The Chimney ‘‘ Swal- 
lows” are common summer-residents throughout New England. 
They reach Massachusetts in the first week of May, and leave 
it in August or September. They have altered their habits 
conformably to civilization, and here roost and nest exclusively 
in‘chimneys. Formerly, they occupied hollow trees, and Au- 
dubon describes as follows a visit to one of their haunts, a 
large, hollow sycamore near Louisville, in Kentucky. ‘Next 
morning I rose early enough to reach the place long before the 
least appearance of daylight, and placed my head against the 
tree. All was silent within. I remained in that posture prob- 
ably twenty minutes, when suddenly I thought the great tree 
was giving away, and coming down upon me. Instinctively I 
sprung from it, but when I looked up to it again, what was my 
astonishment to see it standing as firm as ever. The Swallows 
were now pouring out in a black continued stream. I ran back 
to my post, and listened in amazement to the noise within, 
which I could compare to nothing else than the sound of a 
large wheel revolving under a powerful stream. It was yet 
dusky, so that I could hardly see the hour on my watch, but I 
estimated the time which they took in getting out at more than 
thirty minutes. After their departure, no noise was heard 
within, and they dispersed in every direction with the quick- 
ness of thought.” Audubon estimated their number at nine 
thousand. The Chimney Swifts never rest except in their 
roosting-places, to the walls of which they cling, partly sup- 
ported by their stiff tail; and, so great is their muscular vigor, 
that they never rest by perching. As has already been men- 
tioned, they often rest at noon, or seek refuge during violent 
storms. On this account, they are very abundant sometimes, 
and at other times are not to be seen. On entering a chimney, 
they fall boldly head-foremost in a very unconcerned way. 
Their general manner of flight is so varied that it is difficult to 
describe. It consists of rapid sailing, combined with quickly 
repeated strokes of the wings, and sudden turnings in every 
direction. Their flight possesses so much force that they break 
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