SWIFTS AND HUMMING-BIRDS 183 



(Panyptila sancti-hieronymi), builds a nest out of 

 downy plant-seeds matted together with saliva, a 

 sort of gum-felt fabric, in fact ; but the curious 

 thing about it is not this method of building, which, 

 as will have been gathered, is normal for a Swift, 

 but the shape, which is quite unlike a cup, but 

 resembles a Weaver's nest, being a bulb with a 

 long downwardly directed entrance-spout. There 

 is, however, no suspension rope, the upper part 

 being glued against the underside of a rock. 



Those fairy-like allies of the Swifts, the Humming- 

 birds, are skilful nest-builders in their way, making 

 felted cups of plant-down on branches or even large 

 leaves ; their nests are very small even for the size 

 of the birds, and seem to be much alike in type 

 throughout the family. It will be noticed that the 

 Crested Swifts, which are much more brightly 

 coloured than other Swifts and even show orna- 

 mental plumes, and also perch like Humming- 

 birds, show some slight approach to this style of 

 nesting, though with the nest even more reduced 

 and composed of salivary material. 



Apart from Passerines, Swifts, and Humming- 

 birds, there are few skilful nest-builders, the nests 

 of almost all other birds being of a very ordinary 

 character, generally mere platforms. The Ham- 

 merkop or Tufted Umbre of Africa (Scopus umbretta), 

 however, a queer primitive outlier of the Stork and 

 Heron group, with the size and plumage of a 

 Buzzard and a slight hook to the beak, builds a 

 domed nest like an exaggerated Wren's nest, the 



