WISCONSIN BIRD-STUDY BULLETIN. 



CHIMNEY SWIFT, CHIMNEY SWEEP. 



Abundant summer resident; length about five and one-half inches; 

 sexes alike; nest made of light twigs or leaf stems glued together 

 against some wall hy salivu in such a way as to form a sliallow, half 

 saucer-shaped bit of lattice work; eggs four to. six, pure white. 



The chimney swift with his long, narrow, scythe-shaped wings, 

 looks and acts so much like a swallow that it is often mistaken lor 

 one. It has even come to be called the chimney swallow. 



The swifts are duslcy little birds of a sooty black color, lighter on 

 the throat. The bill is quite short but the mouth is veiy wide at its 

 base. The tail is noticeably different from the ordinary bird's tail. 

 The feathers are short and the quills or shafts extend beyond the 

 vanes for about a quarter of an inch. These spiny tips of the tail 

 feathers serve as a brace to help support the body while clinging 

 against a surface just as the stiff tail-feathers of the woodpeckers 

 form a sort of camp-stool for that tribe. 



The chimney swifts do not rush off for the north on the first balr»iy 

 spring breezes as the robins and bluebirds do. It is the last week in 

 April or the first week in May before they venture into southern Wis- 

 consin. By that time the air is again filled with insects and their 

 food supply is sure. 



To know the swifts, one must look for them on the wing for they 

 are tireless sailors of the azure sea. Their wing strokes are rapid and 

 produce a twinkling motion that is readily recognized. Unless t'~>o 

 high in the air, the end of the short tail may be seen as a pointed 

 oval. 



These birds are masters of the air. They even pick their building 

 material from the trees without aligning. They sweep through the 

 sky, they circle and turn, they chase each other as though playing 

 some kind of air tag and as they fly they make a twittering noise that 

 is in keeping with their twinkling wings. 



Their food consists entirely of insects and is taken on the wing. 

 As most of the insects captured are very small, these little fly and 

 mosquito hunters must be very active in order to get enough to eat, 

 to say nothing of caring for their young. 



Suppose that boys could get something to eat only while playing 

 tag or shinny or while skating; suppose further, that the food came 

 in bits hardly large enough to taste, what runners and skaters they 

 would come to be! They too would probably earn the name of 

 swifts. 



We are told in the books that many animals are protected by 

 their colors; for instance, that the weasel, being white in "winter and 

 brown in summer is less easily seen while hunting or being hunted 

 because he matches or harmonizes with his surroundings; or that 

 Mrs. Bob White is safer w^hile on the nest because her feathers are 



