American Chimney Swift 565 



American Chimney Swift. In the remaining subfamilies as here described 

 the toes possess the normal number of phalanges and the tarsi are unfeathered. 

 The largest of these (ChcBturincB), which includes the bulk of the Swifts, is known 

 by the short, even, or slightly forked tail and the long wings which always extend 

 far beyond its tip. Of the three genera in this subfamily, Cluzlura, with its thirty- 

 five species, is distinguished by having the shafts of the tail-feathers stiff and spiny, 

 which serve to support the birds when they perch, as do the stiff tails of their 

 not distant relatives the Woodpeckers. The Spine-tails, as the members of this 

 genus are often called, are very widely disposed over the globe, among them 

 being our common Chimney Swift or "Chimney Swallow" (C. pelagica), as it is 

 perhaps most frequently denominated. Too well known to need further descrip- 

 tion, it is a common bird throughout North America east of the Plains, nesting 

 from the Gulf coast to central Canada, and wintering somewhere south of the 

 borders of the United States, the exact locality being at present unknown. Before 

 the country was settled by Europeans, the Chimney Swift nested in hollow trees, 

 and occasionally it still does so, as nests have recently been found in the great 

 hollow cypress trees in the Dismal Swamp of Virginia and other places, but 

 with the advent of chimneys the hollow trees were mostly abandoned and now 

 almost every unused chimney has its quota of these summer visitors. The nest 

 is a half saucer-shaped affair, composed of small twigs firmly glued together 

 and to the support by the saliva of the birds. As the Swifts rarely, perhaps never, 

 alight on the ground, and never on trees, the manner in which they gather the 

 twigs has been the subject of considerable discussion. By some observers it is 

 contended that they "sweep on the coveted twig" much as a Hawk rushes on 

 its prey, parting it at the desired place and bearing it away to the nest in the feet ; 

 but, as the following account explains, it appears that the twig is secured by 

 the bill while the bird is in rapid flight. "A number of Chimney Swifts were 

 observed flying rapidly at and among the branches of a dead peach tree. By 

 concealing myself while the birds were absent, it was possible to get within 

 twenty feet of any part of the tree. After waiting perhaps five minutes the birds 

 returned and began circling about. A Swift would retire for a distance of fifty 

 or one hundred yards, then come toward the tree at a rather slow rate, sail- 

 ing, without moving the wings for the last twenty or thirty feet and at a slight 

 downward incline until within five feet of the tree, then turn upward, which had 

 the effect of slightly retarding the movement, at this instant grasping a twig in 

 the bill and giving a number of rapid beats of the wings, which carried the bird 

 through the branches and beyond the tree. These tactics were repeated again 

 and again, or until the twig was secured. They did not appear to select any 

 particular twig and fly repeatedly at it, but simply flew back and forth among 

 the branches, trying the nearest at hand at the instant, and either securing it 

 or passing on to return from the opposite side of the tree." 



The nests, of which there may be from one or two to fifty or a hundred accord- 

 ing to the size of chimney or tree, are very securely cemented together and to the 

 support, in fact, Dr. Brewer records the fact that when separating the nest from 

 the side of the chimney he has frequently found that the brick to which it was 



