CHIMNEY SWIFT. 



Of course the Chimney Swift has no song, but he has 

 a very tolerable idea of keeping time with his fellows in 

 a series of penetrating, rhythmic chirps (away up on the 

 highest C of the piano) during an " all hands around " 

 game of "tag" in ever narrowing circles about some 

 neglected chimney of the old farmhouse. I will not say 

 that the birds adhere to the metre in the following 

 verses (!), but they come extremely near it, and, barring 

 a few breaks, devote themselves entirely to the joys of 

 alternating and consonant sound like that which charms 

 our ears when two boilermakers fall to hammering on 

 the rivets ! 



Chip chip chip chip, chip chip chip chip, 

 Per-che per-che per-che per-che, per-che per-che per- 

 che, 

 Chippy chippy chippy chippy, chippy chippy chippy 



chippy, 

 Chip chip chip chip, chip chip chip I 



The Swifts feed entirely while on the wing, and one 

 seldom sees a bird perch anywhere except on or about 

 the chimney. Naturally, therefore, one wonders what 

 they did before the chimney "arrived" in America. 

 The answer is simple enough. The case is one of adapta- 

 tion to newer conditions ; the Swift prefers the chimney 

 to the hollow in the rotten tree, and that is partly 

 because, nowadays, the hollow in the tree is not as com- 

 mon as the chimney. Mr. Chapman says the structural 

 relations of the Chimney Swif t ' ' are with the Hum- 

 mingbirds and not with the Passerine Swallows." Per- 

 haps that is the reason why there is such a loud hum to 

 their wings within the chimney I 



Family Trochilidce. HUMMINGBIRDS. 



Hummingbirds belong exclusively in the New World. 

 South America is their paradise, and the regions of the 

 Andes are their favorite resort. Of some five hundred 

 species which are now known, but seventeen are found 

 in the United States, and only one species occurs east of 



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