The Chimney Swift 213 



young swifts leave the nest, and cling to the wall with their 

 feet, side by side, below the nest, with their heads upwards 

 and tails downward, the latter of which they use as a sup- 

 port. The fourth week is spent entirely inside the chimney, 

 hanging against its sides and not higher up than the nest. 

 When they leave the chimney for the first time, it is heralded 

 all over the neighborhood, and the event becomes the occasion 

 for great activity and noise and numbers of the birds will be 

 seen chasing each other through the air. After that the old 

 birds feed the young in flight. 



At Somerleaze my son built for himself and his wife, at 

 one corner of the lawn, what he calls a "shack" with an old- 

 time fireplace and chimney to it. This, to their great annoy- 

 ance, and yet to our great delight, brings the chimney swifts 

 to us annually. I have said to their annoyance. This is so 

 because they make the chimney filthy with their excrement, 

 and the much noise they make in feeding, both day and night, for 

 it is true that they do feed their young at night. And I have 

 said to our delight, and this is so because of the fact that there 

 is not a much more interesting and delightful scene than that 

 of these birds scurrying to and fro, and wheeling in and out 

 in midair, and all the while keeping up their pleasant twitter- 

 ings. A cloudy, damp day is their delight for this rollicking. 

 They have little to do with the earth's plants and trees, since 

 they never alight except in a hollow tree or chimney. They 

 are birds of constant flight, and have wonderful powers of 

 endurance. They are the fastest birds on wing that we have. 

 It is said that they have been known to attain a speed of two 

 hundred miles an hour and to have covered a thousand miles 

 in twenty-four hours. 



When they have found a nesting place they become much 

 attached to it, and will return to it for many years. In the 

 October number for 1901 of American Ornithology, Dr. 

 H. L. Wood tells of a swift's nest which was in his father's 

 hay loft. He says : "I remember my father's telling me that 

 this nest had been there to his knowledge for fourteen years. 

 * * * I used often to catch the birds as they clung to the 

 side of the loft and show my playmates the spikes in their 

 tails. That was during the season of '80. The following spring, 



