224 THE RECTORY AND ITS BIRDS 



little white patch on her chin in the middle of 

 her otherwise black-brown plumage ; the enormous 

 expanse of wings, looking, when they are spread in 

 flight, like the flukes of an anchor ; and the tiny legs 

 unable to support the weight of the bird for a 

 moment on a horizontal surface, but armed with 

 claws sharp enough to enable it to cling to the 

 smoothest brick or stone wall, while it is feeding its 

 mate, or its young in the nest close above. 



It is a question still much disputed whether a 

 swift can ever rise from the ground. My own 

 experience in the matter and I have tried the 

 experiment, not once, but a score of times is as 

 follows. Drop him from a little height on to the 

 ground, and he will often manage, with a sort of re- 

 bound, to flutter up at once ; or place him, when you 

 happen to have found him on the ground, on a rather 

 steep bank where the grass is short, and he will 

 succeed in rising from it ; but lay him gently on 

 rough ground or grass, and hold your hand over 

 him for a minute, his muscles will become cramped 

 and he will be quite unable to rise, and, if you do 

 not assist him, will crawl along on his belly, till he 

 dies, or becomes a victim of the cat. If, on the 

 other hand, when you have examined him at your 

 leisure, you toss him into the air, he will circle 



