Ii8 THE SWIFT 



Over two centuries ago Dr. Plot wrote of the Swift, 

 ". . . it having so very long wings, and so short legs 

 and small feet, that it cannot easily rise from the ground 

 unless it be very plain and free from grass ; wherefore 

 it either always flies or sits on the tops of churches, 

 towers, or else hangs on other ancient buildings by its 

 sharp claws, from which it falls and so takes its flight." 

 It would appear from old records to be very much 

 commoner now in our country than it was ; and several 

 recent accounts attest to its trick of exploring the old 

 nesting-hole of a Starling. Mr. Yates, of Staffordshire, 

 and Mr. Carr-Ellison, of Alnwick, both give interesting 

 facts in corroboration of this proclivity. In an Eccleshall 

 street Mr. Yates saw a Swift enter a hole where it had 

 been in the habit of nesting, but it quickly emerged with 

 a Starling fast to its tail. So weighted, the unlucky 

 Swift soon came to the ground and to grief, but it was 

 rescued and was started on its flight again. The 

 Alnwick naturalist, again, saw a Starling pecking at a 

 grounded Swift, and drove the former away. The 

 Starling then flew on to an apple espalier close by, and 

 watched the Swift, which tried to fly along the slightly 

 sloping walk, but it could not get its wings clear of the 

 ground. Its friend lifted and threw it up in the air. 

 Three times this gentleman has witnessed the same scene 

 at long intervals. The reason of it is that he had had a 

 hole made near his study window for nesting purposes. 

 Starlings always build in this in April or early in May, 

 and after they have left Swifts build in the same hole. 

 Sometimes they attempt this too soon ; one comes to 

 explore the hole, and gets caught by a returning Starling 

 who at once pulls it to the ground below, where it is 

 pecked whenever it tries to move. The Swift never 



