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X THE SWIFT 



Hirundo apus — Bewick. 

 Cypselus apus — Jenyns. 



HIS interesting- bird, whose mar- 

 vellous powers of flight and 

 shrill peculiar note are so well 

 known, is included by older 

 naturalists in the family Hir- 

 undina or Swallows, of which 

 it is made to form a special sub^ 

 family ; but modern authorities 

 consider that it is more closely 

 allied to the Humming-birds 

 and Goatsuckers. It differs from 

 the Swallow and the Martin in 

 one very marked and important 

 particular, viz., the construction 

 of the foot ; all four of the 

 toes are turned to the front, an 

 arrangement which, despite its 

 apparent inconvenience, materi- 

 ally assists the bird in climbing 

 into the narrow and contracted 

 apertures which it selects for 

 its nesting-places. 



It resembles the Swallow 

 in its migratory habits, but it 



