KEEL-BREASTED BIRDS. 277 
still further security. They are solitary birds, only com- 
ing out at night, or late in the afternoon, then capturing 
insect-food upon the wing, the lonesome cry—wAip-poor- 
wili—being heard up to midnight. No nest is made, the 
eggs having a protective coloring of greenish white, speck- 
led and blotched with bluish gray and light brown, and 
placed in the grass or fallen leaves. 
Note.—According to Audubon, some take the egg in the capacious 
mouth and flutter away. This has been doubted, but the careful ob- 
server, Dr. Brehm, has seen the male and female night-jar each take 
an egg in its mouth and fly away. Both parents assist in incubation. 
The family is exceedingly large, and found in many countries. The 
lyre-tailed night-jar, of Africa, is one of the most beautiful forms. 
VALUE.—The oil of steatornis is used for illuminating purposes in 
South America. The feathers of some are used. 
The Swifts (Cypselide)* should not be confused with 
the swallow, which they much resemble. The wings are 
long, thin, and pointed, the feet weak, and the salivary 
glands, used in nest-building, highly developed. 
The chimney swift t (Chetura pelasgica) is a typical 
example. The general color is a sooty brown, the throat 
lighter, the length five and a half inches. They are com- 
* To this family belongs the famous edible-nest swift (Collocalia 
nidifica) of India and adjacent countries. The nests are confined 
to certain localities, and generally placed in dangerous positions. The 
nest is a thin, gummy shelf or basket formed entirely of saliva. The 
bird hovers about the wall, presses its tongue to it, attaching a single 
thread of gluten, that coagulates on contact with the air. By repeating 
this for weeks the solid nest is finally formed, at first pure and clear, 
but becoming later discolored by the birds. Many persons lose their 
lives in collecting them, having to be lowered over precipices by rattan 
ropes. 
A Guatemalan swift forms.a tube out of the down of plants, three 
or four feet in length, on the under side of a precipitous rock. The 
entrance is below, and the eggs laid on a shelf. A Brazilian species 
fastens a similar tube to a tree-limb and covers the outside with feathers. 
+ Commonly called chimney swallow. 
