38 



PICARIAN BIRDS. 



caiio-ht o-limpses of single specimens of this bird here and there, and sometimes in 

 most unexpected places. Once, far out on the open prairie, in the north-western 

 part of the United States, a magnificent adult swift of this species shot by me 

 with the velocity of a meteor, his white flank-patches contrasting conspicuously 

 with his black-brown body and wings. It was not, however, until I came to Fort 

 Wino-ate that the opportunity was really afforded me to more intimately study and 

 observe this swift in its favourite haunts ; for all through North-Western New 

 Mexico occur deep, even-walled canons of rock, to which M. melanoleucas resorts 

 to rear its young. Early in the spring of 1885 (April) I found some two dozen . 

 pairs of them in just such a canon about three miles west of Fort Wingate. The 

 walls of this magnificent gorge are of solid rock, being nearly three hundred feet 

 deep in some places, and for the most part roughly perpendicular, though frequently 

 arching over and outwards at their summits. It was within the deep and crack- 

 like fissures seen in the walls of the eaves of these latter recesses, away high up on 

 either side of this rocky chasm, that the swift resorted to lay its eggs. So wisely 

 had every pair of these birds chosen the cleft wherein their nests were hidden 

 that all my plans and attempts to secure a set of eggs proved futile. . . . From the 

 extent of their wings the birds of this family appear formed to live in the air, 

 where, in fact, they pass the most of their time, gliding about in extensive circles 

 without eftbrt, and apparently little motion of the wings. This ease of flight 

 stands them in good need in their migratory movements, allowing them readily to 

 pass into warmer climes. During pleasant weather they find their insect-prey in 

 the upper air, but when cloudy or rainy we find them skimming the ground in 

 their pursuit. When on the ground, the shortness and weakness of their legs, 

 added to their length of wing, incapacitates them from again rising in the air ; 

 hence I have several times seen the European species (il/. apus) picked up in 

 the streets of Geneva, Switzerland, having fallen there during a quarrel with its 

 fellows. When they wish to take rest during the day, which is rare, they always 

 alight on some elevated point, whence they can throw themselves into the air and 

 take to wing. Though numbers were flying about the rocks near Tucson, I heard 

 them utter no note. Sociable among themselves, gathering in large flocks, they 

 never mingle with their nearly related brethren the swallows. They generally 

 construct their nests in the crevices of rocks or the holes in old buildings ; many 

 species have secretory glands, exuding a glutinous substance with which to fasten 

 them firmly. The eggs, from four to six in number, are pure white, and of an 

 elongated form." 

 Feather-Toed The two species constituting this genus, although resembling 



Swifts. the pied swift in the feathering of the toes, differ in the form of 

 the tail, the outer feathers of which are pointed. The Cayenne species {Panyptila 

 cayennensis) ranges through Colombia, Guiana, and Amazonia; while Salvin's 

 swift (P. sancti-hieromini) inhabits Guatemala. The latter is an unusually 

 beautiful bird for such a dull-coloured family; its general hue being silky 

 black, with a narrow white collar round the hinder part of the neck ; while the 

 wings and tail also show a good deal of white at the bases of the feathers. 

 Writing of a nest devoid of eggs, which he found in Guatemala, Mr. Salvin 

 observes that "in this nest we see the saliva of the bird used as an adhesive 



