24 CYPSELIDiE CYPSELUS 



Ibis, 1878, p. 407, 1880, p. 260 [Potohefstroom] ; Butler, Feilden, 

 and Beid, Zool. 1882, p. 205 ; Shelley, Ibis, 1882, p. 242 [Mashonaland 

 and Bechuanaland] ; Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 105 ; Woodward Bros. 

 Natal B. p. 83 (1899) ; Marshall, Ibis, 1900, p. 245 [Mashonaland] . 



Micropus apus, Hartert, Cat. B. M. xvi, p. 442 (1892). 



Apus apus, Hartert, Tierreich, Podarg. p. 85 (1897). 



Description. Adult. — General colour above and below, brownish- 

 black with a slight greenish gloss, especially in adult and newly 

 killed examples ; crown a little paler ; chin and throat white, 

 sometimes with slight indications of black shaft stripes ; under 

 wing- and tail-coverts with slight indications of white edges to the 

 feathers. 



Iris dark brown ; bill and legs black. 



Length about 7-0; wing 6-6 to 6-7; tail 3-20; tarsus -35; 

 culmen 0-27. 



The young birds have white edges to most of the feathers and 

 a whiter forehead. 



Distribution. — The European Swift is apparently found through- 

 out South Africa during the southern summer months, arriving 

 about August and leaving in April. It has been constantly con- 

 fused with Cypselus barbatus, a closely alhed but resident species, 

 so that it is difficult to give any details regarding its distribution. 

 The Swifts so common in Cape Town and the neighbourhood 

 about which Layard has written, appear to be the resident Cape 

 form, although not remaining in Cape Town throughout the year, 

 and the only example referable to this species in the South African 

 museum is one from the Orange river in the neighbourhood of 

 Upington, while in the British Museum Catalogue a specimen is 

 recorded from Matabeleland. 



The Common Swift is found throughout Europe and western 

 Asia during the breeding season, and spends the winter in Africa 

 and Madagascar. 



Habits. — Little has been noted about the habits of the Common 

 Swift in South Africa, probably in this respect it does not differ 

 from its close ally C. barbatus except that it does not breed in this 

 country. In England it selects holes under the eaves of cottages, 

 church towers, crevices in sea cliffs, and quarries, as sites for build- 

 ing in ; the nest is made of a few bits of straw and grass glued 

 together by a viscous secretion formed by the bird itself. It also 

 frequently appropriates the dwellings of other birds such as martins 

 and house sparrows. 



