166 DAYS OUT OF DOORS. 



found nests of young swifts as late as September. Dr. 

 Brewer says that in Pennsylvania the swift is reported as 

 double-brooded. I do not know about this, but the ap- 

 pearances indicate that they are even triple- brooded, and 

 often quite ignore the lateness of the season. It is noth- 

 ing uncommon for them to leave young birds to starve 

 when they finally decide upon their autumnal migra- 

 tion. 



The anatomy of the chimney swift does not suggest a 

 nocturnal bird, and the thought that only when there is a 

 bright moon are they active at night, arises. Continuous 

 observations do not bear this out. Be it ever so dark, or 

 even stormy, it matters little. Indeed, I have not been 

 able to detect any difference, and so the bird has remained 

 to me a mystery. 



But June has many another mystery than this. It is 

 the month that overflows the month when all nature 

 presses to the fore, and the student rambler is apt to do 

 the least, though now the days are longest, bewildered by 

 the ever-present confusion that surrounds him. 



