585 



for some years in a hole in the ruined tower of Iona Cathedral ; but I am unable to give any 

 other instance of their nesting on the inner islands. This species seems partial to old towers 

 and ruined castles, which are numerously scattered over the western counties; and I have 

 observed that in many instances where these remains of ancient strongholds are far removed 

 from towns or villages, the Swifts are quite as numerous as they appear to be when located in 

 populous districts. In the months of July and August 1868 I observed this bird to be unusually 

 abundant in Wigtownshire. During the prevalent heat of that season many hundreds, if not 

 thousands, might have been seen hawking for prey above the village of Glenluce, attracting the 

 notice of even unobservant people by their extraordinary numbers. I have seen Swifts adroitly 

 catching feathers and straws when on wing, and carrying them to their holes under the eaves of 

 a slated house. In some towns they build chiefly in such situations, and often have to contend 

 with Sparrows for possession of the holes. I have witnessed many tough and noisy fights of this 

 kind, and have caught all the combatants by spreading a net over the entrance. It sometimes 

 happens that Swifts, obeying their unconquerable instincts, will, at the close of a stormy season, 

 desert their unfledged young and leave them to perish of hunger. Late broods, especially, are 

 subject to this unnatural desertion. Oftener than once I have seen the little round sooty faces 

 of the young ones peering out of their holes and plaintively crying for food, after which they 

 crept back to die. In these very nests, on the return of another season, the same old birds have 

 been known to rearrange their building-materials — a few straws merely being laid over the bones 

 of the abandoned to receive a new family. The Swift has been seen occasionally in Orkney ; it 

 was observed in 1830, and again in 1847." Dr. Saxby (B. of Shetl. p. 147) records it from 

 Shetland, and observed it in Unst as early as the 27th of April. 



With regard to its distribution in Ireland, Thompson says (B. of I. i. p. 408) that, " although 

 common in favourite localities, the species must be noticed with reference to Ireland generally 

 as but partially distributed. Along much of the wild western range of the island it is rather 

 scarce, in some extensive districts is never to be met with. It is stated by Mr. J. V. Stewart to 

 be rare in Donegal. During a week of the fine summer weather spent in the north-west of that 

 country in June 1832, not a bird of this species came under my notice. The Swift, unknown in 

 Connemara (M'Calla), is very rare about Tralee, where it never breeds (Neligan); and in the 

 county of Kerry one pair only was ever seen by Mr. R. Chute. They remained but for a few 

 days, frequenting an old windmill in the village of Blennerville." 



It is rare on the Faeroes; and Captain Feilden says that Wolley saw one in June 1849 ; one 

 was captured at Westmainshavn on the 21st June, 1864 ; and Mr. H. C. Midler received another 

 on the 24th May, 1871, found dead in the school-house of Thorshavn. In Scandinavia, how- 

 ever, it is common throughout the country. In Sweden, Sundevall (Sv. Fogl. p. 156) says that 

 it is found high up within the Polar Circle — at Enare, in 69° N. lat., as also in the more elevated 

 country about Karesuando and Juckasjarvi, in 68° N. lat. ; and my friend Mr. Robert Collett 

 says that in Eastern Norway it breeds commonly in all districts south of the Trondhjemsfiord, 

 and on the west coast it occurs everywhere in small numbers, and only during migration. It 

 breeds, though rarely, at Bergen. In the fells it breeds up into the subalpine region, and here 

 and there in the farm-houses in the birch-region, as, for instance, in the Vaagefjeldene. It 

 arrives at Christiania about the middle of May, seldom later than the 24th, and leaves late in 



