Concord, Mass.
1901
July 14
( No 5 )
(Chaetura pelagica) that one or the other was every now
and then crowded off the nest and forced to use its
wings either to maintain or regain its position. They
voided their excrement frequently at night. It was profuse 
in quantity and of the color and consistency of cream.
  On the morning of the 9th I saw one of the birds,
presumably the female,work for several minutes on the nest.
Clinging to its outer edge with her neck elongated to a
surprising length she rubbed
her half-opened bill on the ends & surfaces of the twigs
evidently coating them with her varnish which I could 
distinctly see glistening in the rather strong light that
entered the chimney from above. This was the only
occasion during the week when either Gilbert or I saw
her do anything to the nest. Certainly no sticks were
added to it during our stay for the meshes of the
slight framework were as open & numerous when we left the
cabin on the morning of the 15th as when we
reached it on the forenoon of the 8th.
  Both Swifts when in the chimney spent much
of their time preening their feathers in the manner of
other birds. They also frequently used our fort to scratch
their heads while the other was employed to retain
their hold on the nest or the wall of the chimney.
They frequently twitched their folded wings, sometimes
together but often alternately. Invariably at all times 
when they were in the chimney they both kept their tails
spread to the fullest possible extent. In clinging to the
walls of the chimney they used their tails as supports after 
the manner of Creepers or Woodpeckers but when they perched on
the edge of the nest their tails hung loosely down beneath their
folded wings.
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