THE SWIFT. 63 



Description Habits. 



These birds are, as already intimated in the 

 above extract from Mr. White, so strangely an- 

 noyed with fleas, that these vermin have been 

 sometimes seen swarming at the mouths of their 

 holes, like bees on the stools of their hives. 



THE SWIFT, OR BLACK MARTIN, 



IS the largest of the kind known in these cli- 

 mates, being often near eight inches long, with 

 an extent of wing near eighteen inches, though 

 the entire weight of the bird is not more than 

 an ounce. The whole plumage is a sooty black, 

 except the throat, which is white. The feet, 

 which are so small, that the actions of walking 

 and rising from the ground seem very difficult, 

 are of a particular structure, all the toes standing- 

 forward. The least toes consist of only one 

 bone : the others of two each ; in which they 

 differ from the toes of all other birds : this is, 

 however, a construction nicely adapted to the 

 purposes in which the feet of these birds are 

 employed. Nature has also made it ample com- 

 pensation for its difficulty in walking and rising, 

 by furnishing it with abundant means for an easy 

 and continual flight. It spends more of its time 

 on the wing than any other swallow, and its 

 flight is more rapid, ft breeds under the eaves 

 of houses, in steeples, and other lofty buildings j 

 and makes its nest of grass and feathers, 



