COMMON SWIFT. 295 



the garden- walk it instantly took wing; whilst on another occasion one 

 was placed on the floor of a room, but took flight at once and flew against 

 the window. Naumann had previously recorded a similar experiment. 



Swifts often chase each other in the pairing-season, and harmless 

 combats between rival males are sometimes noticed. The Swift most 

 probably pairs for life. Every year the old familiar hole is- tenanted 

 presumably by the same pair of birds; and Gilbert White long ago 

 noticed how regularly the same number of Swifts frequented certain 

 haunts for years. The Swift does not tarry long after its arrival in this 

 country before nesting-duties are commenced. It is a late bird to come ; 

 its stay is short, therefore no time can be wasted. The scanty nest is 

 usually commenced by the middle of May ; eggs are laid by the end of 

 the month ; and the young are usually hatched by the middle of June. 

 The nest is built either in the crevice of a wall, a hole in a rock, or, where 

 there are no rocks, in a mud cliff or tower, or under the roofs of buildings, 

 in a similar situation to that so often chosen by House-Sparrows. When 

 the Swift builds in the latter situations, it is probably because a loftier 

 site cannot be had, for the bird likes to build in as elevated a position as 

 it can find. It is also said to occasionally nest in a crevice in the face of 

 a chalk-pit. It breeds regularly in the limestone cliffs facing the sea at 

 Llandudno and elsewhere ; and it sometimes builds in the hollow branches 

 of old and decayed oaks. 



The nest of the Swift is a very slight structure, almost flat, composed 

 of bits of straw and other vegetable fibres, placed together with very little 

 art, and lined with feathers; these materials are covered with a viscid 

 saliva which solidifies like glue, and renders the nest hard and caked 

 together. The Swift obtains most of the materials with which it builds 

 its nest whilst on the wing, seizing a feather here or a bit of dry grass 

 there, as they may happen to be blown into the air. It also finds hay, 

 straw, &c. under the tiles and in the crevices which it frequents, conveyed 

 thither by Sparrows ; indeed the nest has even been found on a nest of 

 this bird containing eggs ! the Swift having, doubtless, ejected the usurp- 

 ing tenant. The eggs of the Swift are two or three in number, generally 

 the former, but sometimes as many as four are laid. They are elongated 

 in shape, the small end almost as blunt as the large end, rough in texture, 

 with little gloss, and almost pure white in colour. They vary from 1'08 

 to '93 inch in length, and from '7 to '62 inch in breadth. Swifts* eggs 

 are readily distinguished from those of the Martin by their larger size, 

 more oval shape, and rougher texture ; from those of the White-bellied 

 Swift, the species next to be described, their smaller size distinguishes 

 them at once. The female alone apparently performs the duties of in- 

 cubation, and the male often conveys food to her. According to Gilbert 

 White, whose account of this bird is very complete, she only leaves her 



