2o8 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
feet are soft and tender to the touch, as if the bird 
seldom used them. I cannot imagine these birds 
perched on anything horizontal. Their very shape 
and appearance stamp them as denizens of high 
rocky cliffs, where they would cling to the vertical 
face of rock with the stumpy tail bent inward, and 
carrying the weight of the bird on the spines. They 
are interesting creatures, which one would never 
tire of studying." 
From twenty-five years' observation, Mr. O'Shan- 
assy's earliest date of noting the Swifts is December 17th 
(1894-S). 
WHITE-RUMPED SWIFT 
Micropus pacificus pacificus 
In the course of twenty-five years I have only seen 
one White-rumped Swift in the Geelong district. 
That was on February 25th, 1913, when, as I was 
passing the Bareena " Post Office, in Retreat Road, 
a bird passed over my head at a height of about 
50 feet, flying at great speed, from the south north- 
ward, and then turning south again. Though I had 
never seen this species on the wing before, I had 
no difficulty in identifying it : for in the White- 
rumped Swift the rump is white and the under 
tail-coverts dark, while the reverse is the case with 
the Spine-tail. Also, the White-rumped is by far 
the smaller bird, and appears to be speedier in flight. 
