THE ORLETON SWIFTS. 
ii 
pace, they do not move their wings as in ordinary flight, but 
the ends alone seem to vibrate, as if the merriment of the pro- 
ceeding was thrilling the birds through to their finger-tips. It 
seems, to an observer, that if this mode were not adopted, the 
birds would not be able to proceed in such close order as they 
do, for their wings would clash. 
The Swifts always follow the same course in these concerts, 
and they accelerate their flight and increase the noise, at the 
same point as they must have done for hundreds of years, and 
they always go the same way round — against the Sun. Here, 
they have two courses. The one on the north side of the 
Church is along the roof of the nave from west to east, turning 
at the chancel and round by the corner of the Vicarage, and so 
back again to the church. Sometimes they will take the steeple 
in their round, but not often. On the south side, also, they are 
as fond of getting as near to the church as they can ; they turn 
at the tower and take a sweep round the churchyard and back 
to the chancel. I do not remember ever to have seen them 
going round with the sun. 
Seven pairs build in the tower, about the same number 
under the north eaves of the nave, and nearly twenty under the 
south eaves of the nave and chancel, and one pair lias for the 
last three years built in the north-east corner of the Vicarage. 
I can fully bear out what Gilbert White says about the 
Swifts coupling on the wing, having observed the fact long before 
I read his book. The bird’s wings are stretched out and held 
quite still as they gently descend through the air. 
As to their nests I do not think with him that the Swift 
would usurp the Sparrow’s nest. For one reason, the Sparrow 
is always the earlier bird and has possession, and a Sparrow is a 
hard tenant to evict. When a crevice developed in the splitting 
Church Tower,* I saw a Swift going up repeatedly to see if it 
would do for her nest, but the Sparrows came and took possession 
and the Swift left the place alone. Likewise, when the Sparrows 
were allowed to build under the eaves, the Swifts could not find 
room in the Church, and some built in the old cottage at the 
bottom of the Vicarage garden, and did not molest the Sparrows. 
The Swifts seem to know that the sparrow is not their friend, for 
I have often seen one swoop at a Sparrow sitting on the edge of 
the rainpipe on the Church, and the the latter would “ duck ” 
as the Swift passed over. 
But I should say that when a Swift is actually on the nest, 
a Sparrow would know better than to seek an interview. Last 
year I witnessed part of an interesting “ scene.” Of a pair of 
Starlings who had for years built in a certain spot in the Church 
Tower, only one bird was left, and I had not seen it for some 
time. However, one day I saw it go into the nest in the 
Tower; but a Swift had forestalled it. There was loud scream- 
ing, not the joyous scream of the Swift, but the painful scream 
Now, I am happy to say, braced up with stout iron rods. 
