306 INSESSORES. 



furnished with sharp crooked claws, and the hind toe can either 

 wholly, as in the Swifts, or partially, as in the common Chimney 

 Swallow, be brought to point forward. 



The Swallows are widely scattered over the globe, but still are 

 eminently fond of warm latitudes ; they roam, indeed, over the 

 temperate zones, and even advance as far north as the Arctic 

 circle, but only in the summer season ; when cold weather ap- 

 proaches, they hasten to equatorial climes. Everywhere they 

 are known as birds of great speed, for which they are fitted by 

 the firm and close plumage of their bodies, their long, stiff, and 

 pointed wing-feathers, and their long and forked tails. 



Oypselus, (Gr. kupselos, a martin.) SWIFTS or MARTINS. 

 The birds of this genus have the toes thickly feathered, and 

 all the four toes directed forwards. The species C. apous, (Gr. 

 without feet,) is the SWIFT, or BLACK MARTIN. This specific 

 name is given to this bird on account of the exceeding smattness 

 of its feet. It is spread over Europe in the summer season, and 

 is_popularly known as "Jack Screamer." This is one of the 

 swiftest of the Swallow family, appearing to spend the whole 

 day on the wing, and occasionally soaring almost out of sight, 

 but screaming so shrilly that the sound is plainly heard. The 

 Black Martins destroy a very great number of insects, retaining 

 them in a kind of pouch under the tongue for the use of their 

 young, and constantly renewing the supply. 



Chaetura, (Gr. chaite, bristle ; oura, tail.) SPINE-TAILS. 

 The Spine-tails have the tarsus bare and longer than the mid- 

 dle toe ; the tail short and even ; the shafts prolonged into sharp 

 points. 



C. pelasgia, (Gr. pelazo,io come near,) is the AMERICAN SWIFT, 

 or CHIMNEY SWALLOW, a bird which seems to show its appreci- 

 ation of the progress of civilization by leaving its old abodes in 

 the hollows of trees, and taking possession of chimneys free from 

 smoke in the summer season. This bird builds its nest in a 

 semi-circular form. The nest is glued together with the saliva 

 or unctuous matter secreted in glands provided for that purpose, 

 and with the same saliva it is. fastened to trees or to a chimney 

 wall. When the nest is in a chimney, it is usually placed on 

 the east side, from five to eight feet from the entrance ; when in 

 the hollow of a tree, it is placed high or low, according to con- 

 venience. Audubon counted more than a thousand that " entered 

 one chimney before dark," and he estimated that nine thousand 

 roosted in a single tree which he watched near Louisville, Ken- 

 tucky. This Swallow rears two broods in a season. It does not 



