Plate LIII. 



Fig. 2. CH/ETURA PELASGICA-Chimney Swift, 



The Chimney Swift, or Chimney Swallow, is very plentiful and regularly distributed throughout the 

 State. It arrives in Central Ohio about the first week in April, and remains until October, during 

 which time it ordinarily rears but one brood; the nest being built the last of May or first part of June. 



LOCALITY : 



The nest is generally placed in a chimney, either in town or country, the large, old-fashioned flues 

 being preferred. Sometimes it is built in a hollow trunk of a tree, under the eaves of a house, or on 

 a rafter in a barn, but the last two locations are very exceptional. Before the days of chimneys, the 

 nest was placed almost exclusively in hollow trees, and, even to-day, there are some birds which cling 

 to this ancestral habit. About two miles east of Circleville, on Darby creek, is a giant sycamore which, 

 a century or so ago, was topped by the wind; in the trunk of this tree, which is hollow to the roots, 

 Chimney Swifts have built for years. There are other hollow trees in the neighborhood, into which I 

 have also seen the Swifts carrying sticks; and, if all such trees in the State could be counted, they would 

 probably foot up hundreds, or, perhaps, even thousands. 



POSITION: 



The nest is always built against a perpendicular sm^face, being held in place by glue secreted spe- 

 cially for the purpose. When located in a chimney, or in a hollow tree, it is not many feet from the 

 top; its distance from the ground accordingly varies with the height of the flue or tree. 



MATERIALS: 



The materials of construction consist of sticks and glue; the glue is secreted by glands emptying 

 into the mouth of the bird; it is soft and sticky wdien fresh, and on drying becomes hard and somewhat 

 brittle. The sticks are pretty uniform in size, generally measuring about one-tenth of an inch in diam-. 

 eter, and from one-half to three inches in length; they are glued to the supporting wall, and to each 

 other, in such a manner that a semi-circular, concave shelf is formed, which is, in anteroposterior 

 diameter, from one and a half to three inches, and, in transverse diameter, from three to four inches. 

 A common proportion is two and one-quarter by three and three-quarters inches. The nest, near its 

 attachment to the wall, consists of three or four layers of sticks, at its periphery of but a single layer. 

 The cavity varies from one-half to one inch and one-half in depth. Sometimes the sticks are so covered 

 with glue that they appear as if varnished. 



EGGS: 



The complement of eggs is usually four. They are pure white, and measure in long-diameter from 

 .75 to .85, and in short-diameter from .49 to .35. A common size is about .52 x .79. 



187 



