308 X A T IT II AT. n 1 S T O R V 



find opportunity for amorous rites, was it 

 not enabled to indulge them in the air. 

 If any person would watch these birds of 

 a fine morning in ]\/ai/, as they are sailing 

 round at a great height from the ground, 

 he Mould see, every now and then, one 

 drop on the back of another, and both of 

 them sink down together for many fathoms 

 w^ith 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 mate- 

 rials for its nest, and, as it seems, propa- 

 gates on the wing : it appears to live more 

 in the air than any other bird, and to per- 

 form all functions there save those of sleep- 

 ing and incubation. 



This hirundo differs widely from its con- 

 geners in laying invariably but lico eggs at 

 a time, which are milk-white, long, and 

 peaked at the small end ; whereas the other 

 species lay at each brood houijour to six. 

 It is a most alert bird, rising very early, 

 and retiring to roost very late ; and is on 

 the winsr in the heisrht of Summer at least 



