78 THE BIRDS OF MONTREAL. 



city, attaching their nests against the inside walls 

 of chimneys. Every spring, about May 7, the swifts 

 appear in large numbers in close proximity to the 

 three churches on Beaver Hall hill, circling around 

 in endless mazes, more especially at the back of St. 

 Andrew's Church, where they have a roosting- 

 place in that edifice ; but in a few days' time they 

 disperse to breed, and during the evenings are con- 

 stantly on the wing feeding on insects, in scattered 

 numbers, and apparently enjoying aerial races with 

 one another in a skurrying way. This species leaves 

 the precincts of the city the same time as the pre- 

 ceding one. Observed from April 27 to Septem- 

 ber 5. The swifts appear to have deserted their 

 roosting place in one of the buttresses of St. And- 

 rew's Church in the spring of this year (1896), as T 

 did not observe them there as usual, and they 

 appear to be scarce in the city this year. 



Suborder Trochili. Hummingbirds. 



Family Trochilidce. Hummingbirds. 



Genus Trochilus. Linnaeus. 



Subgenus " Trochilus." 



141. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. (Hummingbird.) 



T. colubris. (Linn.) 



'Summer Resident," common. Breeds in the 

 city in gardens, and in Mount Royal Park, but their 



