SWI FT 



COMMON SWIFT BLACK MARTIN SCREECH MARTIN- 

 SCREECHER SCREAMER DEVILING. 



PLATE LIX. 

 Cypselus opus, , LINNAEUS. 



THE nest is generally placed in holes about steeples of 

 churches, and the old walls of lofty towers, as also 

 under the eaves of cottages and barns, crevices under 

 window-sills, and even in hollow trees ; under the arches 

 of bridges, in the sides of cliffs and of chalk-pits. It is 

 roughly formed of straws, wool, grasses, hair, feathers, and 

 such like materials, agglutinated together with the saliva of 

 the birds. These materials are picked up with great dexterity 

 while the bird is on the wing, or purloined from or found 

 in the nest of Sparrows, Martins, or even Starlings, which 

 the Swifts occasionally appropriate to themselves. 



The eggs are laid early in June, the birds returning to 

 the same nest many years in succession. 



The number of eggs is two, but Mr. J. J. Briggs re- 

 corded four at Melbourne, in Derbyshire. This is not 

 a solitary instance of four eggs being found in the nest, 

 but they are probably the produce of two females. The 

 eggs are rough, white, long and narrow. One brood is 

 raised during the season. 



