300 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



exercise. At evening, they renew their activity and do not 

 retire until a comparatively late hour. The Chimney "Swal- 

 lows" are common summer-residents throughout New England. 

 They reach Massachusetts in the first week of May, and leave 

 it in August or September. They have altered their habits 

 conformably to civilization, and here roost and nest exclusively 

 in chimneys. Formerly they occupied hollow trees, and Au- 

 dubon describes as follows a visit to one of their haunts, a 

 large, hollow sycamore near Louisville, in Kentucky. " Next 

 morning I rose early enough to reach the place long before the 

 least appearance of daylight, and placed my head against the 

 tree. All was silent within. I remained in that posture prob- 

 ably twenty minutes, when suddenly I thought the great tree 

 was giving away, and coming down upon me. Instinctively I 

 sprung from it, but when I looked up to it again, what was my 

 astonishment to see it standing as firm as ever. The Swallows 

 were now pouring out in a black continued stream. I ran back 

 to my post, and listened in amazement to the noise within, 

 which I could compare to nothing else than the sound of a 

 large wheel revolving under a powerful stream. It was yet 

 dusky, so that I could hardly see the hour on my watch, but I 

 estimated the time which they took in getting out at more than 

 thirty minutes. After their departure, no noise was heard 

 within, and they dispersed in every direction with the quick- 

 ness of thought." Audubon estimated their number at nine 

 thousand. The Chimney Swifts never rest except in their 

 roosting-places, to the walls of which they cling, partly sup- 

 ported by their stiff tail ; and, so great is their muscular vigor, 

 that they never rest by perching. As has already been men- 

 tioned, they often rest at noon, or seek refuge during violent 

 storms. On this account, they are very abundant sometimes, 

 and at other times are not to be seen. On entering a chimney, 

 they fall boldly head-foremost in a very unconcerned way. 

 Their general manner of flight is so varied that it is difficult to 

 describe. It consists of rapid sailing, combined with quickly 

 repeated strokes of the wings, and sudden turnings in every 

 direction. Their flight possesses so much force that they break 



