COMMON SWIFT. 293 



Palestine, Asia Minor, Persia, Turkestan, Afghanistan, Cashmere, and 

 probably Nepal, and has once occurred on the Andaman Islands. It 

 winters in the Punjaub and throughout the Ethiopian Region as far as it 

 is known. In Cape Colony and Natal it is said to be found all the year 

 round ; but no reliable instance of its breeding there has been recorded. 

 Throughout the southern limits of its breeding-range a slightly-paler form 

 of the Common Swift occurs, which is generally known by the name of 

 C. pallidus ; but as every intermediate form is found in the intervening 

 localities, it can only be regarded as a climatic race, found in isolated 

 localities where the sun is unusually powerful. In the Canaries and 

 Madeira, besides the Common Swift, a small island form occurs, C. unicolor, 

 with a wing less than six inches in length, which is probably specifically 

 distinct. Still smaller Swifts of nearly the same colour occur in India and 

 elsewhere. 



The arrival of the Swift in this country is almost as important an event 

 in spring as that of the Swallow and other well-known birds of passage, 

 although it seldom remains in our islands longer than four months. It is 

 seen at Gibraltar as early as the end of March ; and in Palestine, Greece, 

 and other parts of Southern Europe it arrives late in that month or early 

 in April. It seldom arrives in Central Europe and the south of England 

 before the end of April ; and in the north of England and the south of 

 Scotland it does not usually appear before the beginning of May, although 

 an example was once seen by Dr. Saxby in the Shetlands as early as the 

 27th of April. It does not reach South Sweden before the middle of 

 May, and does not arrive in Lapland before June. Last of migratory 

 birds to arrive in spring, it is one of the first to take its departure in 

 autumn. By the end of August most of the young birds have left this 

 country ; but late broods and their parents linger on into September, and 

 stray examples have been occasionally seen in October and even in 

 November. 



The Swift frequents almost all kinds of places, from the plains in the 

 neighbourhood of the sea, where it breeds in the cliffs and old ruined 



D * 



towers and fortresses, to the upland moors and mountain-lochs, where a 

 pair or two may frequently be seen near a shooting-box or gamekeeper's 

 cottage. It loves the town as well as the country, and is especially fond 

 of frequenting cathedrals, church -spires, and other lofty buildings. It is 

 a very common bird in country towns, but does not occur so plentifully in 

 those where large manufactures are carried on ; but it haunts almost every 

 village. It cannot be called as common a bird as the Swallow or the 

 Martin, but it occurs in considerable numbers, sometimes in isolated pairs, 

 but more often in small colonies. By far the greater part of its time is 

 spent in the air ; but it roosts in its nest, and sometimes repairs thither 

 during heavy rain. It is an early riser, and its shrill cry may often be 



