NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE. 187 



Swifts, like sand-martins, carry on the business of nidification 

 quite in the dark, in crannies of castles, and towers, and steeples, 

 and upon the tops of the walls of churches under the roof; and 

 therefore cannot be so narrowly watched as those species that 

 build more openly; but, from what I could ever observe, they 

 begin nesting about the middle of May ; and I have remarked, 

 from eggs taken, that they have sat hard by the Qth June. In 

 general they haunt tall buildings, churches, and steeples, and 

 breed only in such ; yet in this village some pairs frequent the 



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THE COMMON SWIFT (Cyj>selus apus). 



lowest and meanest cottages, and educate their young under 

 those thatched roofs. We remember but one instance where they 

 breed out of buildings, and that is in the sides of a deep chalk-pit 

 near the town of Odiham, in this county, where we have seen 

 many pairs entering the crevices, and skimming and squeaking 

 round the precipices. 



As I have regarded these amusive birds with no small attention, 

 if I should advance something new and peculiar with respect to 

 them, and different from all other birds, I might perhaps be 

 credited; especially as my assertion is the result of many years' 



