6 SOME CANADIAN BIRDS. 



Though a familiar object in the summer twilight, few of our people 

 have handled the bird or know the color of its plumage. In the 

 hand the dull, indefinite hue becomes a sooty brown tinged 

 with green. The wings are long and extremely acute ; the tail is 

 short and is armed at the extremity with strong sharp points which 

 assist the bird in clinging to the sides of the chimney or cavern or 

 hollow tree in which it has placed its nest, for these birds are not 

 invariably chimney dwellers. The origin of this species dates back 

 to a time when chimneys were not available, and in many localities 

 the birds still retain the primitive notion regarding a proper 

 nesting site. Wherever placed the nest does not vary much from 

 the general plan. An almost flat shelf of strong twigs is fastened 

 to the side of the chimney or cave by the adhesive saliva which the 

 builders eject upon the twigs, and on this shelf, without any cushion, 

 the hen lays four or five eggs of unspotted white. 



When the young are ready for their first flight they are taken 

 to the chimney top and encouraged to test their pinions, and an 

 interesting scene this is to witness. The solicitude of the parents 

 and their coaxing ways ; the timid hesitation of the young birds, 

 and their evident desire to emulate their seniors ; the final plunge 

 into mid air, and the first few awkward efforts to master the wing 

 stroke, make this one of the episodes of bird-life which bring these 

 children of the air very close to the heart of their human brethren. 

 I know of no greater test of faith than that first trial of the wings. 

 A babe's first steps prove his courage ; but it is a small matter to 

 take those few steps between mother and nurse when strong hands 

 are near — a small matter in comparison with that leap into the 

 care of untried pinions when the ground lies hard and cruel some 

 fifty feet below. (I borrow the thought though at the moment I 

 forget the author). 



I do not agree with Nuttall in his description of the flight of 

 these birds. It differs from the flight of the swallow in being more 

 continuously rapid, and in the almost incessant vibrations of the 

 wing. The birds are not seen at the mid-day period, excepting 

 on the dullest of gray days, but during the early hours of the 

 morning and in the evening twilight they are very active in pur- 

 suit of their insect prey. They rarely alight excepting at their 

 |i99ts and while gathering material for nest-building. 



