NEEDLE-TAILED SWIFT. 305 



Gould writes on the flight of this bird :— " The keel or breast-bone of 

 this species is more than ordinarily deep^ and the pectoral muscles more 

 developed than in any bird of its weight with which I am acquainted. Its 

 whole form is especially and beautifully adapted for extended flights; 

 hence it readily passes from one part of the world to another^ and, if so 

 disposed, maybe engaged in hawking for flies on the continent of Australia 

 at one hour, and in the next be similarly employed in Tasmania. So 

 exclusively is this bird a tenant of the air, that I never, in any instance, 

 saw it perch, and but rarely sufficiently near the earth to admit of a 

 successful shot ; it is only late in the evening and during lowery weather 

 that such an object can be accomplished. With the exception of the Crane, 

 it is certainly the most lofty as well as the most vigorous flier of the Aus- 

 tralian birds. I have frequently observed in the middle of the hottest 

 days, while lyiag prostrate on the ground with my eyes directed upwards, 

 the cloudless blue sky peopled at an immense elevation by hundreds of 

 these birds, performing extensive curves and sweeping flights, doubtless 

 attracted thither by the insects that soar aloft during serene weather ; on 

 the contrary, the flocks that visit the more humid climate of Tasmania 

 necessarily seek their food near the earth." My friend Mr. B. P. Ramsay 

 tells me that he once saw three or four of these birds perched on the 

 edge of a hollow tree-trunk in Australia. All observers agree in describing 

 the rapid flight of this Swift. It is incessantly on the wing, sailing and 

 darting about on never-tiring pinions, sometimes retiring to the inaC' 

 cessible clifis or clinging to their steep sides, aided by the spines on its 

 tail-feathers. 



Of the nidification of this bird nothing positive is known. Some 

 writers state that it nests in holes of rocks and trees, whilst others 

 assert that it builds a glutinous nest like that of the Edible Swallow. 

 During the pairing-season the Needle-tailed Swift often chases his mate 

 through the air, and at these times it is said by Prjevalsky to utter a weak 

 note, more like that of a Swallow than a Swift, Several pairs are said 

 by this naturalist to nest close together ; and although he informs us that 

 they breed in the cliffs, on the shores of rivers, and in hollow trees, he 

 unfortunately omits any details. Of its eggs nothing is known at present; 

 but they are most probably white in colour, 3,8 are the eggs of all the 

 Swifts so far as is known. 



The food of the Needle-tailed Swift is composed entirely of insects of 

 different kinds, the indigestible parts of which are cast up in pellets. 



The Needle-tailed Swift in breeding-plumage has the forehead dull 

 white ; the rest of the head, the nape, the wing-coverts, and the upper 

 tail-coverts and tail are dark shiuing green ; the feathers of the nape have 

 concealed white bases, and the inner webs of the innermost secondaries are 

 white. The rest of the upper parts are brown, shading into pale brown or 



VOL. II. X 



