6 ODD FAMILIES 



The range of this interesting bird is the same as that of 

 the nighthawk. In the South both are replaced by another 

 goatsucker called, from its whistle, the Chuck- Will's- 

 Widow. Until actually hearing it, one can scarcely believe 

 that any bird of this Order can say things as plainly as this 

 bird says "Chuck Will's Wid-ow!" The Pacific states, from 

 British Columbia to Mexico, and eastward to Nebraska, have 

 the Poor-Will. 



THE SWIFT FAMILY 



Micropodidae 



The Chimney Swift, or Chimney "Swallow," 1 has 

 been for a century or more classified with the swallows and 

 martins, but recent studies of its anatomy have caused its 

 removal from their group. This is the bird whose nest and 

 young sometimes tumble down into your fireplace in spring 

 or summer, and cause commotion. 



To me, the nesting habits of this bird seem like faulty in- 

 stinct. A chimney is a poor place of residence for a bird, and 

 the habitants frequently come to grief. If the aperture is 

 small, the householder objects to having the chimney stopped 

 by nests; and if it is large, so many Swifts may nest there 

 that their noise is an annoyance. These birds get up and out 

 before daylight, to hunt insects that fly at night, and doubt- 

 less many a "ghost" in a "haunted house" is nothing more 

 frightful than a colony of these birds in the chimney. 



This bird has the ability to fly straight up or straight 

 down, else it could not enter or leave a chimney. It is quite 



1 Chae-tu'ra pe-lag' i-ca. Length, 5 inches. 



