THE CHIMNEY SWIFT. 391 



vomit with its plastic bill to the sides of deep caverns, both 

 inland and on the seacoast, to form its nest. When com- 

 plete the nest is a hollow hemisphere, of the dimensions of 

 an ordinary coffee-cup. When fresh made it is of waxy 

 whiteness, and is then esteemed most valuable." This in- 

 sipid thing of Chinese soups is gathered, at a fearful peril 

 of life, from the caves of the coast of India, and sold as a 

 government monopoly, sometimes at the enormous price of 

 $35 per pound, or even twice its weight in silver. 



But to return from this digression; wherever I go, one of 

 the most distinctive associations of the early days of spring 

 is the Chimney Swift. Flying so high, that he appears like 

 one of the smallest of birds, the short, quick beat of his wings 

 and his sharp tsip, tsip, tsip, tsip, so rapidly uttered, readily 

 distinguish him. On handling him, you observe that his 

 tail, which appeared so short when in flight, has the quill of 

 each feather extended beyond the web, in the form of a 

 sharp spine. This aids him in alighting on the wall. The 

 Swifts are supposed to fly at the rate of a thousand miles 

 in twenty-four hours. They seem to spend nearly the 

 entire day on the wing, "and when caring for their young, 

 often spend a great part of the night in bringing them 

 food. 



Some 5.35 long, the Chimney Swift is brownish-black, 

 lighter on the throat. Wintering south of the United States, 

 and residing in summer throughout Eastern North America 

 from the Southern States northward, it reaches Western 

 New York the first week in May, and leaves early in October. 



LAKE VIEW. 



Oak Orchard Creek is the principal water-course of 

 Orleans County, N. Y. Rising in Tonawanda Swamp, 

 which is partly in Genesee County, it makes a curve of 



