1 68 NATURE'S STORY OF THE YEAR 



through the mass. They cannot all enter at the 

 same time, so one part of the current deflects its 

 course and passes upwards ; two other streams 

 pass aside ; and a great many birds fall directly, 

 and recover themselves as best they may. I tried 

 again and again to estimate the number of birds, 

 but could only imagine a number between four 

 thousand and six thousand as applicable to them. 

 Yet they all entered that grating before dusk, as, 

 indeed, I had been informed would be the case. 



A seemingly trustworthy official told me that 

 the centre of the tower was simply banked with 

 the swallow-like nests of the birds, which them- 

 selves blackened the walls. 



One word as to the speed of the swift. The 

 bird is supposed to be extraordinarily fast ; and 

 perhaps the reader would hardly credit the state- 

 ment that it is not so fleet of wing as a wild-goose. 

 Seemingly good observers often break loose into 

 exaggeration when dealing with this bird's power 

 of wing. A well-known writer, for instance, stated 

 in the Daily News that it could fly at a speed of a 

 hundred and fifty miles per hour, and swifter than 

 a falcon. But one of Major Fisher's well-known 



