82 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
of the company, and their flight, although resembling that of 
their fellows, was somehow different. 
My curiosity was awakened, and the next evening I was at 
the same place watching for the strangers, but the dull cold 
weather prevented my seeing them. In the course of a week, 
however, I had the gratification of seeing one so near that the 
white throat, the white under the tail, as well as the pale patch 
on the back, were plainly visible. I noticed then that it sought 
its food indiscriminately amongst the Swifts, Swallows, and 
Martins, and was not particular about confining itself to one 
stratum of atmosphere as the other species did; for it is well 
known that if Swifts and other species are feeding at the same 
time they seldom mingle with each other, or occupy the same 
height in the air. I also observed that the bird in question 
often had a sort of poising flight, reminding one of the Nightjar, 
but at other times it had an equal, if not superior, dash of wing 
to the Common Swift; and I could well understand this when, 
a few days later, I held in my hand what I have every reason to 
believe was one of the two birds I had seen, for its length of 
wing, coupled with its superior weight, would give it such an 
impetus as I have described. It was killed about the 26th or 
27th of July, whilst flying over the river, about two miles from 
where I first observed it, and what I suppose was its mate, but 
the man who shot it did not see another like it. 
Altogether this interesting stranger is a handsome bird. It 
measured seven inches and three-quarters from its beak to the end 
of the spines of its tail, and the wings when closed extended nearly 
three inches beyond them. The wings themselves measure eight 
inches from the carpal joint to the tip of the longest quills; the 
two outer quills are of equal length, and the longest in the wing. 
The beak is short and black, rather broad at the base, and the 
nostrils are somewhat large; from the tip of the beak to the 
inside of the gape it measures three-quarters of an inch. Its 
eyes, which were of a very dark brown hue, appeared sunken, in 
consequence of the feathers of the head seeming to overhang 
them; and this appearance was not due to the bird having got 
stale, for it was quite fresh when I had it, and the eyes were 
bright and life-like. Its legs are short, toes rather long, and the 
claws very much curved, and a peculiarity about the foot is that 
the hind toe is not situated at the back of the leg, but on the 
