THE COMMON SWIFT. 249 



does not feed on the wing, and in nestling time it of course 

 resorts to the shores ; whereas the swift has to hunt in the 

 air, and that too at a considerable elevation, for subsistence 

 both for itself and its brood. 



The whole structure of the swift is indeed more adapted 

 to an aerial existence than that of any other bird. Its foot, 

 as may be seen in the figure, bears some resemblance to a 

 little hand, and is not all fit for walking, or for throwing 

 the bird upward with a jerk, as is the case with long- winged 

 birds which occasionally reside on the ground. Place the * 

 swift on level ground, and it would be utterly helpless ; but ''. 

 let it be in the air, and it is all-powerful. The little foot, too, 

 can lay hold of a small pointed rock, or rugged stone, with so 

 much firmness, that the bird can abide on a jutting part of a 

 tower, when it would be unpleasant for a man to stand on the 

 battlement. ' .-.-/.. , ' 



The swift is the garreteer of nature ; not that it inhabits 

 the highest grounds (for the very altitude of its place pre- 

 supposes productiveness in its locality), but where it is found 

 it spends its time and finds its food above every other crea- 

 ture. Its place of habitation corresponds; for the highest 

 crevices in steeples, towers, and jutting rocks, that rise to a con- 

 siderable altitude amid fertile places, are the habitations of the 

 swift ; and its instinct leads it to adapt the structure of its 

 nest to the elements. The straws and other matters of which 

 it is composed, are said to be soldered to the rock and to each 

 other, with a viscid substance, elaborated by glands for the 

 express purpose, though perhaps the same glutinous matter 

 may more assist the bird in the capture of its prey. Those 

 swallows which' construct their nests in great part of humid 

 mud (they, too, may secrete more or less of a similar gluten), 

 never build so high or in such exposed situations as the swift; 

 and some of the foreign swallows, which form nests against 

 the tops of caverns, and on the under sides of overhanging 



