n6 



cassell's book of birds. 



support their prolonged exertions, so that they consume insects in enormous quantities, seizing them 

 whilst upon the wing. 



All such species as inhabit the temperate zone migrate with the utmost regularity as winter 

 approaches, and return to their native haunts with such unfailing precision that the day on which 

 they will re-appear may be accurately prognosticated. Those species inhabiting the interior of 

 Africa never actually migrate, but occupy themselves in flying over the face of the country during 



THE KLECHO {Dendrochdidon kiccho). 



the wet season. The work of constructing the nest is commenced as soon as the winter journeyings 

 are over, and is always carried on amidst great excitement ; the males chasing and fighting each 

 other most furiously during the whole time, and constantly engaging in pitched battles with the 

 birds whose nests they prefer taking rather than undergo the labour of constructing a home for them- 

 selves. Unlike the nests of the Swallows, those built by the Swifts seldom consist of more than 

 a few slight materials laid carelessly together, and cemented with saliva from the builder's beak. The 

 eggs are round and white ; the female alone broods, but both parents share in the toil of satisfying 

 their hungry progeny. 



