io Bird Portraits 



on telegraph wires, but I have never seen a Swift perch on any 

 support outside a chimney. At night and during such part of the 

 day as is given up to rest, the bird supports itself in chimneys 

 by clinging to projections or crevices. The stiff, sharp-pointed tail 

 feathers aid greatly in supporting it. Before the coming of the 

 white man, hollow trees served as the roosting and nesting places 

 of the Swifts. 



There is no better practice for the eye than distinguishing 

 swallows from Swifts, when both species are mingled in the air. 

 The Swift's flight, though very powerful, suggests that of the bat, 

 on account of the frequency of the wing strokes; the rapid beating 

 of the wings ceases at intervals and the bird glides through the 

 air or turns on set wings. Then the twinkling flight begins again. 

 There are none of those long sweeping strokes with which the Barn 

 Swallow cleaves the air. The tail of the Swift, when the bird is 

 flying, generally appears short and cigar-shaped, or, if spread, it is 

 fan-shaped, not forked like the tails of all the swallows. 



The ordinary note of the Swift is a single sharp cry, slowly or 

 rapidly repeated; it is characteristic of warm summer evenings when 

 the birds fly about the houses in twos or threes, pursuing each other 

 and uttering this note staccato. A pretty sight at this time is the 

 Swift sailing with wings raised above the body, in the position of 

 our common pigeon just before alighting; the Swift assumes the 

 same attitude above the chimney, poising a moment before he drops 

 into the flue. 



Early in September the Swifts leave the North, and may be 

 seen high overhead flying southward; unlike many of our small birds, 

 they migrate by day, their powers of flight protecting them from the 

 birds of prey which are such a menace to the smaller birds. 



