BIRDS OF NEW YORK 



173 



At any rate, the twigs are carried into the chimney and are cemented to 

 the wall and to each other by a gelatinous substance secreted by the salivary 

 glands of the bird itself. When completed, the nest is like a little semi- 

 circular bracket slightly hollowed downward. The eggs are placed on 

 this framework of twigs without lining. They are 4 to 6 in number, oval- 

 elliptical in shape, pure white in color, and average .82 by .50 inches 

 in diameter. In food the swift is wholly insectivorous, and does an 

 immense amount of good destroying beetles, flies and gnats, which he devours 

 in countless multitudes. The Chimney swift, as he darts by, frequently 



Photo by Clarence F. Stone 

 Chimney swift's nest and eggs 



utters a rapid chipper something like the syllable chip-chip-chip, rapidly 

 repeated, and I have heard a loud cheeping in the chimney, evidently 

 uttered by the young birds. One of the earliest impressions of my boy- 

 hood was the curious roaring caused by the wings of parent swifts as they 

 came and went from their nests at daybreak. This unfortunate habit 

 of early rising has brought the Chimney swift into bad repute in many 

 civilized communities, too great zeal in the service of the citizens while 

 destroying the gnats, flies and mosquitoes which annoy them, closing even 



