CONCERNING SWIFTS 159 



about the same date by three people in different 

 parts of England not museum naturalists, but 

 mere garden observers. 



On the evening of the loth of June, 1887 (a 

 very fine and clear evening), I was watching swifts 

 from a hillside garden at Stroud, in Gloucester- 

 shire. The swift is a particularly attractive object 

 when viewed from such a position, whence its 

 splendid flight all about the sky can be well 

 observed, and also its grand swooping at evening, 

 and, most marvellous, its night-flight into the 

 zenith. The falcon-like stooping is probably the 

 means whereby the males drive their mates to 

 nest. At sunset or thereabouts, in June, the inci- 

 dent may constantly be witnessed. The pursuing 

 birds chase particular individuals, presumably 

 their mates. The pursued are always intent on 

 feeding, whence we may suppose that they are 

 birdj that have been brooding all day and are out 

 for a little relaxation ; or that they are securing a 

 good supper before retiring to the eggs for the 

 night. The latter supposition is doubtless the 

 correct one. In this "driving to nest " the male 

 rises to the height of a hundred feet or more 



