Chimney Swift i8i 



from disuse. When the basket cradle has 

 been stuck against a chimney-side, it looks as 

 if it were covered with a thin coat of isinglass. 

 On this lattice from four to six white eggs are 

 laid. A friend, who innocently started a fire 

 in his library one cold, rainy mid-summer even- 

 ing, was startled and shocked when a nest and 

 eggs suddenly fell on the hearth. He had no 

 idea birds were nesting in his chimney. The 

 rush of their wings he had thought w^as the wind. 

 Of course the fire melted the glue, when down 

 fell the cradle. Happily there were no ''babies 

 and all" to tumble into the flames. 



When the baby swifts are old enough to 

 climb out of the lattice, they still cling near 

 it for about a fortnight waiting for their wings 

 to grow strong, before they try to leave the 

 chimney. Apparently they hang themselves 

 up to go to sleep. Shouldn't you think they 

 would fall on the hearth down stairs? Doubt- 

 less they would but for their short, thin, stiff- 

 pointed tail feathers which help to prop them 

 up where they cling to the rough bricks and 

 mortar of the chimney lining. Woodpeckers 

 also prop themselves with their tail feathers, 

 but against tree trunks. Not until swifts are 

 a month old do the lazy little fellows climb out 

 of their deep, dark cavern into the boundless 

 sky, which is their true home. No birds are 

 more tireless, rapid flyers than they. Their 



