SWIFT. 
his notes. Indeed, his so-called twenty-first Letter to 
Barrington, dated September, 1774, is by far the best 
history of its habits ever published in our language, and 
has formed the nucleus of all subsequent histories. 
In the course of this chapter he remarks that he 
remembers ''but one instance where they breed out of 
buildings ; and that is in the sides of a deep chalk-pit 
near the town of Odiham, in this county, where we have 
seen many pairs entering the crevices, and skimming and 
squeaking round the precipices." 
It is interesting to note that they still nest in the 
same pit. 
Among the remarkable facts that he noted are its habit 
of arriving in pairs, and copulating on the wing. Also the 
rapid deterioration of its plumage when in this country, 
and the speedy transformation of the squab-young, " help- 
less, naked and unwieldy," into birds of such powerful 
flight. 
He apparently did not note them collecting materials 
for their nests — stray feathers dropped from passing birds, 
and particularly the blossoms of the elm — which they often 
catch in their mouths as they are blown from the trees. 
His last paragraph touches upon a profound subject in 
these words : — " So soon does Nature advance small birds 
to their jjXiklol, or state of perfection ; while the progressive 
growth of men and large quadrupeds is slow and tedious." 
A rare variety of the swift, with a white breast, is in 
the Hart collection, and was erroneously recorded by Wise 
as a " white-bellied swift." 
The swift may frequently be seen flying over the New 
Forest woods, far from any nesting-colony. 
