168 SWIFTS. 



usurp upon the house-sparrows, and expel them, as sparrows 

 <lo the house and sand-marten well remembering that I 

 have seen them squabbling together at the entrance of their 

 holes, and the sparrows up in arms, and much disconcerted at 

 these intruders ; and yet, I am assured by a nice observer in 

 such matters, that they do collect feathers for their nests in 

 Andalusia, and that he has shot them with such materials in 

 their mouths. 



Swifts, like sand-martens, carry on the business of nidifica- 

 tion quite in the dark, in crannies of castles, and towers, and 

 steeples, and upon the tops of the walls of churches, under 

 the roof, and therefore cannot be so narrowly watched as those 

 species that build more openly ; but, from what I could ever 

 observe, they begin nesting about the middle of May ; and I 

 have remarked, from eggs taken, that they have sat hard by 

 the 9th of June. In general, they haunt tall buildings, churches, 

 and steeples, and breed only in such ; yet, in this village, some 

 pairs frequent the lowest and meanest cottages, and educate 

 their young under those thatched roofs. We remember but 

 one instance where they breed out of buildings, and that is in 

 the sides of a deep chalk pit near the town of Odiham, in this 

 county, where we have seen many pairs entering the crevices, 

 and skimming and squeaking round the precipices. 



As I have regarded these amusive birds with no small 

 attention, if I should advance something new and peculiar 

 with respect to them, and different from all other birds, I 

 might perhaps be credited, especially as my assertion is the 

 result of many years' exact observation. The fact that I 

 would advance is, that swifts tread, or copulate, on the wing ; 

 and I would wish any nice observer, that is startled at this 

 supposition, to use his own eyes, and I think he will soon be 

 convinced. In another class of animals, viz. the insect, nothing 

 is so common as to see the different species of many genera, 

 in conjunction as they fly. The swift is almost continually on 

 the wing ; and, as it never settles on the ground, on trees, or 

 roofs, would seldom find opportunity for amorous rites, were 

 it not enabled to indulge them in the air. If any person 

 would watch these birds of a fine morning in May, as they are 

 sailing round, at a great height from the ground, he would see, 

 every now and then, one drop on the back of another, and 

 both of them sink down together for many fathoms, with a 

 loud, piercing shriek. This I take to be the juncture when 

 the business of generation is carrying on. 



As the swift eats, drinks, collects materials for its nest, and, 



