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of 



The Swift's flight Flight The curious j 

 night flight of the swifts is described in 

 Knowledge by C. A. Witchell : " The sun has 

 set and most of the small birds have retired 

 for the night, though the sparrows are still 

 noisy in the creepers on the house. Most of 

 the swifts are flying low over the meadows, 

 but some are in the sky, and of these a few 

 are chasing others, and performing those 

 magnificent swoops by which it appears that 

 the males drive the females to their nests. 

 Certain it is that the pursuing birds (always 

 acting singly) chase particular individuals, 

 whose course they follow at a greater alti- 

 tude, but always with the intention of finally 

 descending in a falconlike swoop at the 

 lower bird, who, anticipating the attack, 

 swerves downward and finally plunges head- 

 long. The swishing sound produced by the 

 descending swifts can be heard at a consid- 

 erable distance. ... At about forty minutes 

 after sunset (whether in June or July) the 



group of swifts begins to whirl round and 

 round, like a mob of rooks ; but again and 

 again the cluster breaks up in a pursuit and 

 a mad, noisy rush across the sky. Yet the 

 birds are gradually attaining a higher posi- 

 tion, and their screaming becomes the less 

 noticeable. Their wings often have a tremu- 

 lous motion, reminding one of the flight of 

 an ascending skylark. Still, there is no de- 

 liberate upward flight, only a succession of 

 swoops and rushes, terminating at increasing 

 distances from the ground. The birds keep 

 fairly together, and not one descends to the 

 houses ; but it may be the cluster is joined 

 by another group, coming you know not 

 whence. Dusk is beginning to fall, and even 

 the sparrows are silent, but the cries of the 

 swifts can yet be faintly heard. The birds 

 may now be easily lost sight of altogether, 

 especially if there be no white, fleecy clouds 

 high overhead to throw into relief the whirl- 

 ing black dots in the sky. Now is the time 



