THE COMMON SWIFT. 195 



ties for some years past of observing Swifts 

 during the breeding season under the eaves of 

 some old cottages in Sussex and Middlesex. 

 By means of a short ladder I have been enabled 

 to inspect many nests both before and after 

 the young were hatched ; and, out of a score 

 or more examined, seldom more than one con- 

 tained three eggs. Sometimes I observed that 

 Sparrows were ejected and their nests appro- 

 priated, amidst much remonstrance and scream- 

 ing; but, as a rule, I have found that Swifts, 

 having once reared their young safely in a new 

 locality, will return to the same hole year after 

 year. Birds have been marked by having their 

 claws cut, and, on being set at liberty, were 

 caught the following year in the holes from 

 which they had first been taken. Unlike most 

 insectivorous birds, which bring but a single in- 

 sect (or at most two or three) to the nest at a 

 time, the Swift visits its young less frequently 

 in the day, but brings a large store at each visit. 

 The mouth is often so crammed with small 

 black flies, that the bird presents the appearance 



