WAYS OF NATURE 



was left flying, and it took three or four trials either 

 to make up its mind or to catch the trick of the 

 descent. On dark or threatening or stormy days the 

 birds would begin to assemble by mid-afternoon, 

 and by four or five o clock were all in their lodgings. 

 The chimney is a capacious one, forty or fifty feet 

 high and nearly three feet square, yet it did not seem 

 adequate to afford breathing-space for so many 

 birds. I was curious to know how they disposed 

 themselves inside. At the bottom was a small open 

 ing. Holding my ear to it, I could hear a continuous 

 chippering and humming, as if the birds were still 

 all in motion, like an agitated beehive. At nine 

 o clock this multitudinous sound of wings and voices 

 was still going on, and doubtless it was kept up all 

 night. What was the meaning of it ? Was the press 

 of birds so great that they needed to keep their wings 

 moving to ventilate the shaft, as do certain of the 

 bees in a crowded hive ? Or were these restless 

 spirits unable to fold their wings even in sleep ? I 

 was very curious to get a peep inside that chimney 

 when the swifts were in it. So one afternoon this 

 opportunity was afforded me by the removal of the 

 large smoke-pipe of the old steam-boiler. This left 

 an opening into which I could thrust my head and 

 shoulders. The sound of wings and voices filled 

 the hollow shaft. On looking up, I saw the sides 

 of the chimney for about half its length paved with 

 the restless birds ; they sat so close together that their 

 12 



