SWIFT 
163 
distinct, as if they had been separately pricked in 
with a tattooing-needle ; and this point of differ- 
ence makes them easily distinguishable. Some- 
times they form a thicker zone or band at the 
larger end, but the same separate appearance is still 
preserved. The Wood Lark is a resident species ; 
in winter it forms flocks, often in company with 
the Skylark. 
SWIFT. 
{Cypselus apus,) 
Black Swallow or Martin, Devil-Screamer, 
Deviling, Skeer-devil, Screech Martin, Cran. — In 
spite of its Swallow-like appearance and habits, 
the Swift is fundamentally different in structure 
not only from the tribe of Swallows, but from all 
the " passerine birds with which we have so far 
been dealing, and it now introduces us into the 
new and much smaller order of the Picariae, or 
Woodpecker-birds, so called from one of the most 
typical families it contains. The Swift is one of 
the last birds to come, and the first to go, and its 
shrill scream and fiercely sweeping flight are 
among the most typical sights and sounds of the 
hottest summer weather. The end of the first 
week in May is about the average date for its 
M 2 
