THE SWIFT. 271 



the crescent. With graceful wheeling motions, short 

 turnings, and infinite twistings, together with his great 

 rapidity of motion, he is, indeed, a wonderful bird. To 

 see a company of them on a tranquil evening in early 

 summer is a sight by no means to be despised. See 

 them sailing far up in the azure vault ; a few strokes of 

 those long scythe-shaped wings, and they are coursing 

 round you, uttering their sharp notes ; then again they 

 mount aloft, to wheel and circle as before. Now they 

 appear but specks in the air, and their sharp notes are 

 heard faintly sounding above. The flight of the Swift, 

 however, taken altogether, is not so rapid as that of the 

 Swallow, but at times these birds will chase each other 

 through the air with incredible velocity. 



Swifts return annually to their old nesting-sites, and 

 consequently we know the birds are joined together for 

 life. The Swift does not necessarily require an elevated 

 site for its nest, as is very generally supposed, for they will 

 build under the eaves of houses, in places similar to those 

 tenanted by the House Sparrow, just as frequently as 

 in the crevices of cathedrals hundreds of feet above. The 

 Swift is never seen to alight on the ground or trees, and 

 consequently obtains the greater part of its nesting ma- 

 terials when they are floating through the air. Straws 

 and feathers are secured when the bird is on the wing, 

 and conveyed to its nesting-hole, for be it known the 

 Swift, like the Sand Martin, rears its young in a hole ; 

 but with this difference the Swift repairs to holes in 

 rocks and buildings for its purpose. A slight nest of 

 straws and a few feathers are all that is required, and these 

 materials are woven together without the use of any sticky 

 substance produced by the bird, as many persons would 

 have us believe. The eggs, unlike those of any of the 

 Swallow tribe, are only two, or but rarely three, in num- 



