SWIFTS, 35 



with a buffish white band across the rump ; the crest is long and of a dark cinnamon 

 colour ; the throat is glittering green bordered with cinnamon, and the neck-frill 

 is also cinnamon, the feathers tipped with a round spot of glittering green ; the 

 abdomen is grey, the sides of the body and under tail-coverts shining green, the 

 feathers edged with pale cinnamon; the tail is cinnamon, the lateral feathers 

 broadly, the rest narrowly, edged with golden-green externally ; and the bill flesh- 

 colour, with a black tip. Scarcely anything has been recorded of the habits of the 

 coquettes. Of one of the Central American species {L. helence) Mr. Salvin writes 

 that its flight is very rapid, and hardly to be followed by the eye as it darts from 

 flower to flower; and its cry is peculiarly shrill, and unlike that of any other 

 humming-bird. 



The Swifts. 



Family MlCROPODlD^} 



Allied in some respects to the humming-birds, and in others to the goat- 

 suckers, the swifts are readily distinguished from the former by their short and 

 wide beak, while from the latter they are differentiated by the palate being con- 

 structed after the Passerine type. The short beak is curved towards the tip, and 

 is very broad at the base, so that the gape is of great extent. As in the humming- 

 birds, the tail-feathers are ten in number ; whereas in the swallows, which curiously 

 resemble the swifts in external appearance, there are twelve of these feathers. Of 

 primary quills there are ten; and the secondaries are likewise reduced, their 

 number never exceeding nine. The breast-bone resembles that of the humming- 

 birds, being free from notches in its hinder border ; but the upper wing-bone, or 

 humerus, is unique on account of its extreme shortness and width. The swifts 

 may be divided into three subfamilies, the first of which (Micropodince) is repre- 

 sented typically by 



In common with twb others out of the five sfenera included in 



Tlifi TniA Swiffcs 



the subfamily, the true swifts have the metatarsus covered with 

 feathers, and the number of joints in the third and fourth toes reduced to three ; 

 while the first toe is capable of being turned forwards like the others. Among 

 the species the Alpine swift {Micropus melba) is of large size. It is of a 

 general mouse-brown colour, with rather darker wings and tail ; the throat and 

 under surface of the body being white, with slight indications of dusky shaft- 

 hues to the feathers, while there is a broad band of brown across the fore-neck. 

 The length is 8| inches, and the wing also measures the same in length. This 

 swift inhabits the countries bordering the Mediterranean as far north as the Alps, 

 and extending throughout Persia to the Himalaya, but wintering slightly to the 

 southward ; while in Africa it is replaced by the allied M. africanus extending 

 from Shoa to the Cape. According to Messrs. Fatio and Studer, the Alpine swifts 

 arrive in spring, towards the end of March or the beginning of April, and depart 

 at the end of October ; although considerable difference takes place in the time of 

 arrival in various years, the backward or forward state of the season appearing to 



1 This fanfiilj"^ is commonly known as the Cypselidce, but as the name Cypselus is a synonym of Micropus, the 

 latter must be taken as the source of the family name.— Editor. 



