212 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



when suddenly I thought the great tree was giving way and 

 coming down upon me. Instinctively I sprung from it; but 

 when I looked up to it again, what was my astonishment to 

 see it standing as firm as ever. The swallows were now pour- 

 ing out in a black, continuous stream. I ran back to my post, 

 and listened in amazement to the noise within, which I could 

 compare to nothing else than the sound of a large wheel re- 

 volving under a powerful stream." 



The nest of the chimney swift generally is attached to the 

 inside of a chimney, as is aptly shown in the illustration. An 

 average nest is about three inches in outer diameter by two 

 inches in depth. It is semi-circular and half-saucer shaped, 

 and built up entirely of small dry twigs, averaging from one- 

 tenth to one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter and from one to 

 two and a half inches in length.. There is no inner lining of any 

 kind used, the eggs lying on the bare twigs. The twigs are 

 gathered by the bird while in flight, the bird breaking them 

 off with its beak while flying past. The twigs are fastened 

 to each other and to the wall with a gummy secretion from 

 the mouth. In chimneys the nests are ordinarily glued to the 

 sides, from five to twelve feet below the top. Only a small 

 quantity of the glue is secreted daily, and because of this the 

 completion of the entire structure requires about eighteen 

 days, if the weather is favorable, and if unfavorable much 

 longer. The bird has the power of controlling the laying of 

 eggs, and can discontinue it for one or more days if she thinks 

 necessary. The eggs are white and four to five make a set. 



Incubation begins before the last egg is laid and lasts 

 eighteen days, and both birds take part in it. During the first 

 week the blind and almost naked young are placed so that 

 their heads come together in the center of the nest with the 

 anal regions near to its rim. The arrangement is important for 

 the cleanliness of the home, since the parents do not seem to 

 trouble themselves with removing the excrement. The second 

 week, when the young are fast outgrowing the little home, a 

 different arrangement is necessary ; the heads then lie flat 

 against the shaft with the anterior part of the body covering 

 and protecting the base of the nest and the posterior part pro- 

 truding over its rim. At the beginning of the third week the 



