262 SWIFT. 
To the extreme north of Scotland this species is somewhat 
irregular in its visits, and it is only seen occasionally in the Orkneys 
and Shetlands ; while on the west side it is not numerous in the 
Inner Hebrides and is rare in Skye, as well as in the Outer group. 
To Ireland it is a regular visitor, and, though uncommon in some 
parts of the west, it is plentiful in Mayo and Sligo. 
To the Feroes the Swift is an occasional visitor, but it is found in 
Scandinavia up to 70° N. lat., and in Russia as far as Archangel. 
In Asia it breeds to the north of the Western Himalayas ; while on 
migration it visits the Punjab and has occurred in the Andaman 
Islands. A pale race inhabits Mongolia-and Northern China ; 
between India and Tunisia the whiterumped C. affinis seems to 
be resident ; in portions of Northern Africa our bird is either asso- 
ciated with or represented by the Pallid Swift, which visits Southern 
Spain and the Canaries ; and the latter islands are also inhabited by 
the smaller and darker C. wxicolor. Throughout Europe our Swift 
is abundant in summer, often arriving in the sunny south early in 
March, though not until June in Lapland; while on migration it 
visits Madagascar and the extreme south of Africa, and is said to 
breed in Natal. 
Holes under the eaves of cottages and other buildings, church 
towers, crevices in sea-cliffs, quarries, chalk-pits, as well as hollow 
trees, are the sites selected by the Swift for breeding ; and to these 
it returns year after year. A few bits of straw and grass, with some 
feathers, collected on the wing and glued together by the viscous 
secretion of the bird, form its usual nest, but it sometimes robs 
of their dwellings Martins, House-Sparrows, and even Starlings. 
The eggs, laid late in May or early in June, are 2 in number, and 
when more are found in the same nest, they may be the produce 
of two females; they are oval, rough in texture, and dead-white: 
measurements 1 in. by °65 in. Incubation lasts eighteen days, and 
as a rule only one brood is produced in the season ; backward 
young being abandoned by their parents when the time arrives for 
emigration. Insects taken on the wing form the food, and the 
indigestible portions are rejected in the shape of pellets. The wild, 
screeching note is sometimes startling when uttered by birds 
sweeping by at lightning speed, and often in the worst of weather, 
for the Swift seems to revel in the storm. 
The plumage of the adults is a bronzed blackish-brown, with a 
small greyish patch under the chin; bill, toes and claws blackish. 
Length (to the tip of the tail) 6-75 in.; wing 68 in. The young 
have more white on the throat, and paler margins to the feathers. 
