128 BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



the first to leave us. Upon reaching this country, 

 towards the end of April or beginning of May, the 

 noisy Swift soon makes known its arrival by its wild 

 scream, " swee-ree-e" as it dashes overhead, and so 

 rapid are its movements on the wing, that were not 

 our attention attracted by its cry it would often- 

 times, like an- arrow, pass us unobserved. An inge- 

 nious naturalist has computed that the Swift is able 

 to fly at the rate of ninety miles an hour. 



The birds which in summer are daily seen wheel- 

 ing over our reservoirs and about the river must 

 travel a considerable distance to breed, for there are 

 but few favourable sites for nesting in the above- 

 mentioned neighbourhoods which they frequent in 

 search of food. Many years ago some Swift's eggs 

 were taken from under the eaves of an old cottage 

 on Roe Green, in the parish of Kingsbury. In 

 June, 1862, I obtained some eggs from Northolt 

 Church, where I believe these birds breed annually. 

 Some nests have also been found in the church- 

 steeple at Harrow, and in an old barn in that neigh- 

 bourhood. A curious and unusual site for a Swift's 

 nest was under the low eaves of a noisy rail way -sta- 

 tion. In the spring of 18G5 two pairs of Swifts 

 were building under the eaves of the station at 

 Spring Grove, Isleworth. 



ALPINE SWIFT, Cypselus alpinus. One day in 

 August, 1841, a white-bellied Swift was seen sport- 

 ing with a number of the common species over the 



