608 



6 



and 3 centimetres depth in the cup, and says that when a suitable place, on a beam in the niche 

 of a wall or a cranny in a rock, is chosen the bird lays the foundation of straws, dry grass-bents, 

 or leaves, which are heaped loosely or placed in a circle, then covered with spittle and worked 

 together so firmly that often when the nest is taken a piece of wood must be taken with it ; on 

 this the lower walls of the structure are worked well to the foundation with spittle, and consist 

 of coarser straws, and the sides are continued, and in case of need fastened to the place where 

 the nest is built ; the upper part of the nest consists of a close mass of grass, the husks of buds, 

 feathers, with a few bits of paper and fine roots intermixed, and the form is made either round, or 

 half round, or else as near round as possible, the materials being carefully glued together where 

 necessary ; and when stouter Swift-feathers are used, they are bent or broken into form. There 

 is no further lining to the nest. M. Fatio remarks that this Swift not unfrequently makes use of 

 Sparrows' eggs in working together the materials used in the construction of its nest, which give 

 a yellowish tinge to the structure, and portions of the shells are worked in the nest. The eggs, 

 which are usually from three to four in number, are deposited early in June, are pure white in 

 colour, without any gloss, elongated in shape, tapering somewhat towards one end ; and specimens 

 in my collection from Bern Oberland measure from 1^% by f § to 1^ by ff inch. 



They always, or almost always, build in colonies, generally a tolerably large number of birds 

 living in the same colony. Like the common Swift the present species is noisy ; and where it is 

 found its harsh scream may continually be heard as it rushes pass at lightning speed in pursuit 

 of its insect prey. It feeds exclusively on insects, which it catches on the wing, never picking any 

 thing off the ground. Small winged insects, especially gnats, are said to form its staple food ; 

 and when feeding its young it collects them until they form a lump in its sticky gape, which it 

 then takes to its young. Too swift on the wing to be molested by any bird of prey, it appears 

 to be subjected to but little persecution, except in those parts of Southern Europe where eveiy 

 bird that flies is considered good for the table ; and there it is frequently captured, killed, and 

 sent to market. They are frequently caught by boys, who attach a feather to a hook and a very 

 fine line and let it float through the air from the edge of a precipice to be snapped up by the 

 bird when collecting materials for its nest. Dr. Girtanner says that the Alpine Swift is greatly 

 troubled with parasites, and that its nest harbours all sorts of vermin. He gives a careful 

 description (communicated to him by M. Fatio) of one of these parasites which dwells in the 

 feathers covering the rump of the Swift, and which he calls Anapera maxima. Besides being 

 infested with these, it is frequently much troubled with bird-lice. Like the common Swift the 

 present bird is unable to raise itself from the level ground into the air, but once fallen it 

 must remain there, unless indeed, as is said to occur, its comrades fly swiftly down and striking 

 it assist it again into the air. It usually takes flight by pushing itself to the edge of any 

 elevated place where it may be, and thus launches itself into the air. Some interesting notes 

 on its habits were published by Canon Tristram, who writes (Ibis, 1866, p. 77), as follows: — 

 "Cypselus melba, though very abundant in localities, is rather a local bird in the Holy Land. 

 Unlike its congener, it is only a summer migrant, but returns earlier than the common Swift, 

 C. apus. The first time we noticed it was at daybreak on February 12th, when, camped 

 outside the walls of Jerusalem, we saw large flocks passing with amazing rapidity, at a great 

 height, towards the north. A few days afterwards we noticed several of these birds among the 



