

CHIMNEY SWIFT. 



chimney swallow. 



Ch^tura pelagica. 



Char. General color sooty brown, paler on the throat and breast, 

 tinged with green above. Length about 53^ inches. 



A^esi. Usually in a chimney, sometimes in a hollow tree or a barn; 

 made of twigs cemented with saliva. 



E^£-s. 4-5; white; 0.70 X 0.50. 



This singular bird, after passing the winter in tropical Amer- 

 ica, arrives in the Middle and Northern States late in April or 

 early in May. Its migrations extend at least to the sources 

 of the Mississippi, where it was observed by Mr. Say. More 

 social than the foreign species, which frequents rocks and ruins, 

 our Swift takes advantage of unoccupied and lofty chimneys, 

 the original roost and nesting situation being tall, gigantic 

 hollow trees such as the elm and buttonwood (^Platanus). 

 The nest is formed of slender twigs neatly interlaced, some- 

 what like a basket, and connected sufficiently together by a 

 copious quantity of adhesive gum or mucilage secreted by the 

 stomach of the curious architect. This rude cradle of the 

 young is small and shallow, and attached at the sides to 

 the wall of some chimney or the inner surface of a hollow 



