284 



-BIRDS. CYPSELID.E. 



clinging like squirrels by means of their strong feet and 

 sharp claws. The young birds are indeed so conscious 

 of the power of their feet, that it is not uncommon for 

 them to quit the nest voluntarily long before they can 

 fly ; they then cling firmly to the wall, and are fed there 

 until they can dart off in pursuit of their own prey. 



Wilson says that " the Chimney Swallow is easily 

 distinguished in the air from the rest of its tribe, by its 

 long wings, its short body, the quick and slight vibra- 

 tions of its wings, and its wide unexpected diving 

 rapidity of flight ; shooting swiftly in various directions 

 without any apparent motion of the wings, and uttering 

 the sounds tsip tsip tsip tsee tsee in a hurried manner. 

 In roosting, the thorny extremities of its tail are thrown 

 in for its support. It is never seen to alight but in 

 hollow trees or chimneys ; it is always most gay and 

 active in wet and gloomy weather ; and is the earliest 

 abroad in the morning, and latest out in the evening of 

 all our swallows." 



THE NEEDLE-TAILED SWIFT (Acantlnjlis cauda- 

 cuta) of Australia, is a considerably larger bird than 

 the preceding, measuring seven inches in length to the 

 extremity of the tail, whilst the wings are of immense 

 extent, measuring no less than nine inches from the 

 wrist-joint to the tip, and thus extending at least three 

 times the length of the bird. Its general colour is 

 brown : the wings, tail, and crown of the head, are 

 deep, shining green ; the throat and chin, a band above 

 the bill, the inner webs of the innermost secondaries, 

 and the hinder part of the abdomen, with the lower tail 

 coverts, are pure white. It is an abundant summer 

 bird in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, 

 and its rapidity of flight, as might be expected from 

 the great length of its wings, is so extraordinary, that 

 as Mr. Gould remarks, it might be engaged in hawking 

 for flies on the continent of Australia and on the island 

 of Van Diemen's Land within half an hour. It flies 

 in large flocks at a great height in the air, at least on 

 the Australian continent, where the clear dry air causes 

 the insects to rise to a great elevation ; in Van Die- 

 men's Land, on the contrary, where the air is moist, 

 and the insects fly low, this Swift also skims along not 

 far from the surface of the ground. The nidification of 

 this bird is not known. 



THE SHAEP-TAILED SWIFT (Acanthylis oxyura) is 

 an inhabitant of South America, especially of Paraguay, 

 where, according to D'Azara, it is called by the Indians 

 Mbiyuimbopi, or the Bat-Swallow, from a resemblance, 

 both of its colour and mode of flight, to those of a 

 bat. It flies principally above the highest trees of 

 the woods of Paraguay, and when it passes to the 

 open country rarely descends within thirty or forty 

 feet of the earth, even then rising again speedily to its 

 ordinary elevated position. It is a very shy bird. 

 Like all the Swifts it drinks on the wing, flying rapidly 

 over the surface of the water, and taking up a little sip 

 in passing. It passes with great rapidity, but with the 

 utmost precision, amongst the branches of trees, and 

 when thus engaged often carries off spiders from the 

 webs which they have spread there ; and it is in the 

 cavity of a hollow tree that it passes the night. In 

 flying this bird produces a sound which is compared by 

 D'Azara to that of a very small pair of castanets. 



THE HOODED SWIFT (Dendrochelidon comatus). 

 The genus, to which the name of Dendrochelidon, or 

 Tree-swallow, has been applied, consists entirely of 

 eastern species, peculiar to India and the islands of the 

 Indian Archipelago. They have the hinder toe non- 

 versatile, the tail forked, and the head usually adorned 

 with an erectile crest or with tufts of feathers. The 

 Hooded Swift, which is an inhabitant of the numerous 

 islands of the Eastern Sea, is a beautiful little species, 

 measuring only about five inches and a half in length ; 

 the general colour of the plumage is a bronze green ; 

 but on the head there are some long white feathers, 

 which form a sort of hood or crest when erected. The 

 belly and under tail-coverts are also white. 



THE BEARDED SWIFT (Dendrochelidon mystaceus), 

 which is found only in New Guinea, is another elegant 

 species, the contrast of its colo.urs producing a most 

 pleasing effect. The colour of the crown of the head, 

 of the wings, and tail, is blue-black ; a portion of the 

 wing-coverts and the outer web of the external tail 

 feathers are white ; a white band, originating at the 

 nostrils, passes above each eye ; and beneath the lower 

 mandible there springs a tuft of small white feathers, 

 which borders the gape, and terminates on the sides of 

 the neck in two long slender white plumes, exactly 

 resembling a white moustache of the true military cut. 

 The other parts of the bird are of a brownish slate- 

 colour, except the inferior tail-coverts, which are grey. 



THE ESCULENT SWALLOW (Collocalia esculenta} 

 Plate 5, fig. 16 which we might with more propriety 

 call the Esculent Swift, is one of the most remarkable 

 birds of the whole tribe of the Fissirostres. This bird, 

 with several others belonging to the same genus, is 

 found in many parts of India, both on the continent 

 and on the islands. Their nests, which are built in 

 fissures and caverns of the rocks, are the celebrated 

 edible birds' nests, so highly prized by the Chinese for 

 the preparation of soups and sauces. The nests are 

 composed almost entirely of the glutinous matter which 

 in the other Swifts assists so materially in binding 

 together the materials of which the nests are composed, 

 and which, as we have previously stated, is secreted by 

 the greatly-developed salivary glands. These, in the 

 species of the genus Collocalia, or at all events in those 

 which are regarded as the principal manufacturers of 

 the edible nests, are of very large size. Although this 

 view is now generally received, it was long a matter of 

 considerable doubt amongst naturalists where and how 

 the so-called Esculent Swallows obtained the materials 

 of their nests, the most general opinion being that these 

 were derived from sea-weeds picked up and eaten or 

 masticated by the birds. Hence Thunberg described 

 one of the species under the name of Hirundo fuci- 

 phaga. There is, however, still considerable doubt as 

 to the number of species which make the edible nests. 

 According to Linnaeus, his Hirundo esculenta had white 

 spots on all the tail feathers, a character which does 

 not occur in any species known to modern naturalists. 

 Thunberg describes his Hirundo fuciphaga as being of 

 a black colour; ash colour, dull brown, orwhite beneath ; 

 and with the tail, wings, and feet entirely black. We 

 have placed the name^ given by Linnseus at the head 

 of this article, as it seems pretty certain that one of the 



