THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW, OR AMERICAN SWIFT. 165 



generally placed on the east side, and is from five to eight feet from the 

 entrance; but in the hollow of a tree, where only they breed in communities, 

 it is placed high or low according to convenience. The fabric, which is very 

 frail, now and then gives way, either under the pressure of the parents and 

 young, or during sudden bursts of heavy rain, when the whole is dashed to 

 the ground. The eggs are from four to six, and of a pure white colour. 

 Two broods are raised in the season. 



The flight of this species is performed somewhat in the manner of the 

 European Swift, but in a more hurried although continued style, and gene- 

 rally by repeated flappings, unless when courtship is going on, on which 

 occasion it is frequently seen sailing with its wings fixed as it were; both 

 sexes as they glide through the air issuing a shrill rattling twitter, and the 

 female receiving the caresses of the male. At other times it is seen ranging 

 far and wide at a considerable elevation over the forests and cities; again, in 

 wet weather, it flies close over the ground; and anon it skims the water, to 

 drink and bathe. When about to descend into a hollow tree or a chimney, 

 its flight, always rapid, is suddenly interrupted as if by magic, for down it 

 goes in an instant, whirling in a peculiar manner, and whirring with its 

 wings, so as to produce a sound in the chimney like the rumbling of very 

 distant thunder. They never alight on trees or on the ground. If one is 

 caught and placed on the latter, it can only move in a very awkward fashion. 

 I believe that the old birds sometimes fly at night, and have reason to think 

 that the young are fed at such times, as I have heard the whirring sound of 

 the former, and the acknowledging cries of the latter, during calm and clear 

 nights. 



When the young accidentally fall, which sometimes happens, although the 

 nest should remain, they scramble up again, by means of their sharp claws, 

 lifting one foot after another, in the manner of young Wood Ducks, and 

 supporting themselves with their tail. Some days before the young are able 

 to fly, they scramble up the walls to near the mouth of the chimney, where 

 they are fed. Any observer may discover this, as he sees the parents passing 

 close over them, without entering the funnel. The same occurrence takes 

 place when they are bred in a tree. 



In the cities, these birds make choice of a particular chimney for their 

 roosting place, where, early in spring, before they have begun building, both 

 sexes resort in multitudes, from an hour or more before sunset, until long- 

 after dark. Before entering the aperture, they fly round and over it many 

 times, but finally go in one at a time, until hurried by the lateness of the 

 hour, several drop in together. They cling to the wall with their claws, 

 supporting themselves also by their sharp tail, until the dawn, when, with a 

 roaring sound, the whole pass out almost at once. Whilst at St. Francisville 



