CONCERNING SWIFTS 169 



peregrine falcons, as he informed me, chased a 

 swift all about the sky, going high over it re- 

 peatedly, and nearly catching it. I have seen a 

 hobby falcon which was shot with a swift in his 

 foot, which he had been seen by the shooter to kill 

 but a few moments before. Not long since I was 

 travelling by express train along a valley, there 

 being a breeze blowing in the direction of our 

 journey, but the swifts there, notwithstanding the 

 assistance of the wind, never moved so fast as the 

 train in the same direction. One May day, I saw 

 a swift fighting with a house-sparrow for the 

 possession of a desirable niche under the eaves of 

 a thatched cottage. The sparrow was always 

 quickest in taking possession ; but the swift as 

 surely pulled him out, and they fell from the hole 

 together, sometimes almost reaching the ground 

 before separating. The sparrow once chased the 

 swift for a considerable distance, and it was 

 amazing to observe that though the swift was 

 certainly the faster, he was not much the faster, 

 and the sparrow was in fact " a good second " 

 throughout the chase. The sparrow is, of course, 

 by no means a slow bird, and is often able to keep 



