Swifts with much material, as they maneuvered about 
the brush heap almost as much as the standing trees. 
ARTHUR M. FARMER. 
Clinton, Mass. 
EDITOR NIDOLOGIST:—A correspondent in your 
January issue asks for information about the Chimney 
Swift and its manner of obtaining the small articles it 
gathers for nest building. The birds will fly rapidly at 
a dead limb, and just as it approaches it slackens speed 
somewhat; then grasps a small twig firmly in its bill 
and gives it a twist to get it loose, keeping all the time 
on the wing. Very frequently it does not succeed, but 
flies away and circles around again to the tree and 
makes another effort. R. P. SHARPLES. 
Elgin, Ill. 
Epitor NIDOLOGIST:—Several years ago, while at 
my boyhood home in Monroe County, N. Y., I took 
many notes on the Chimney Swift, some of which may 
be of interest in the light of the question raised by Dr. 
Coues in January Nip. I watched the birds on many 
occasions to settle the question in my mind as to 
whether they used beak or claws in breaking off twigs. 
I had the best of opportunities, foras far as I could dis- 
cover, all my birds secured their twigs from three partly 
dead cherry trees in the yard. 
My observations extended over many years and cer- 
tainly did not all refer to one pair of birds, as I had 
sometimes three pairs under observation in one season. 
In every case the bird would swoop down from a_con- 
siderable height and break off the twig w7zth her beak, 
describe a semi-circle in the air to the barn gable and 
on my gaining the barn floor, she would be tound hang- 
ing by tne claws under the nest and placing the twig 
with her beak. Before starting for another she would 
seem to be covering the last one with glue. 
Albion, N. Y. ERNEST S. SHORT. 
Epitor Nipo.ocist:—I have watched Chimney 
Swifts break off twigsa number of times and know how 
they do it here in Brockton regardless of how they act 
in any other part of the country. 
They generally break off the end of a dead twig, but 
from the examination of several nests I am led to 
believe that they occasionally break the end ofa live 
limb. They do not seize the twig while going at full 
speed as generally reported, but stop an instant in air 
as they seize it wzth their bills. They give it one, and 
sometimes two sharp twists sidewise; and when this 
fails to break it off they go on far enough to swing 
around in alarge circle and try the same twig again. 
It is not untilafter repeated efforts that they leave a 
twig they have once attempted to break. The trees 
generally chosen are the wild cherry, red oak and pop- 
jar, with preference in the order of their naming. 
Of course to stop in the air it is necessary for the 
Swift, as for all birds, to drop the body more or less 
near to the perpendicular and this might give the 
impression tosome thatit grasped the twig with the 
feet, but this it never does. The nest I have found 
invariably placed in a chimney, to the inside of which 
itis firmly glued with the broken ends of the twigs 
down and out, so that there are no sharp ends or pro- 
jections on the inside of the nest. No feathers are 
used in its construction, although a few sometimes are 
worked in accidentally. Twigs of nearly the same size 
are used for the same nest, so that a nest is composed 
of nearly all small, medium or large twigs, as the case 
may be. R. H. Carr. 
Brockton, Mass. 
THE NIDOLOGIST 81 
Epiror NrpoLoGisr:—In reply to Mr. Short’s 
query in January issue of THE NrpoLocist will say 
that according to my observations, extending over a 
period of eight years, the Chimney Swift invariably 
nests in chimneys in this part of central Wisconsin, and 
I am yet to learn of its nesting elsewhere with us. This 
is also true of it in Fayette County, Ill., my former 
home. When the chimney of the old grist mill at Far- 
ina, Ill. fella few years agoI am informed by compe 
tent authorities that by actual count over 400 Swifts, 
young and old, were killed, besides great numbers of 
eggs destroyed. The chimney wasof red brick, 65 feet 
high. Here at Beaver Dam it is necessary to cover 
the openings of the chimneys of the public school build- 
ings in order to keep out the Swifts during the summer 
months. Every year a few pair nest in an unused 
chimney at my country home. Hollow trees are com- 
mon nere, but I have never known the Swifts to use 
them as nesting sites, nor have I ever known them to 
nest in barn gables, as cited by Mr. Short. 
Beaver Dam, Wis. W.E. SNYDER. 
Epitor NipoLoGist:—Dr. Coues asks for facts 
about the Chimney Swift, which the following, copied 
from my note book, may do something towards supply- 
ing. 
Ine date is July 1, 1893, when the birds were build- 
ing a second nest to replace one taken on June 24, 
with four fresh eggs. I was riding down the road on 
my wheel, and got off to watch them just opposite the 
trees where the twigs were taken, so had a good view 
of the operation. To quote from the note: ‘The 
Swifts were flying around the old elm trees (about 100 
yards from the chimney) and sometimes hovering an 
instant at the end of a dead branch—a ‘sucker’ which 
left the trunk about ten feet trom the ground. Finally 
one of them broke off a stick and flew away toward our 
house. The mate now got another from a little maple 
across the street. They do not ‘dash past’ the twig 
but stand almost still] (hovering of course) when they 
take hold, and probably break the twig by a twist of 
the head, as the stick, if I remember rightly, did not 
shake very much when the bird flew away” (as it cer- 
tainly would had they pulled or bent the twig off simply 
by flying on). 
This was written as soon asI reached the house and 
seems to show that the birds make some examination 
to be sure they can break the twig before they touch it; 
that both birds carry nesting material; and that they 
certainly do not use the feet in getting the twigs. 
Wethersfield, Conn, HENRY R. BUCK. 
Ep1tTor NIDoLoGIsT:—I see in the January number 
that Dr. Coues asks about how the Chimney Swift 
breaks off the twigs for its nest; whether they do it with 
their bill or feet. There are a few dead trees near our 
house whichfare favorite resorts for Swifts that are 
“house building” and I have often watchec them take 
the twigs, but to me they: always seemed to take them 
with their feet. They would circle around a few times 
until they could grasp it with their feet; and after 
clasping it tightly they would give a few sharp strokes 
with their wings and seeming to turn their bodies at an 
angle to the limb, and inthis way break it off. I am 
sure that they always clasped it in their feet as they 
were well over the twig while seizing it, and I could 
sometimes see it sticking out from their feetas they 
flew away. Also while watching them build in our 
chimney they brought in the twigs in their feet although 
they used their mouths to assist in putting them in 
place. SIDNEY S. WILSON, 
St. Joseph, Mo. 
