THE ORLETON SWIFTS. 
67 
It must, however, be left to each observer to choose his or her 
own plants, according to the locality in which they happen to 
live.* I feel sure, however, that if every observer would add 
his quota, a large body of useful information would soon be ac- 
quired, which would throw light upon the origin of species and 
the survival of the fittest. 
George Henslow. 
THE ORLETON SWIFTS. 
(a letter to the right honble. the earl of selborne.) 
(Continued from p . 53.) 
jlN some warm evenings — it matters not whether bright 
or cloudy — the swifts seem all to go mad. They scream 
and they play, they have games of follow-my-leader, 
they buffet one another from behind — never in front ; 
that would mean broken wings, or sudden death. I have seen 
an irregular impromptu screaming chorus meet the regular one 
suddenly in full flight. Some dodged up and some down, not a 
feather touched, but the screaming was stopped abruptly, as it 
was touch-and-go, and required all their adroitness to avoid a 
serious collision. If one bird goes up and clings against the 
wall, as their habit is, others following will go and pull him 
away. If one goes into its nest the others will stop for a second 
and yell outside, and then dash off to join the chorus, which is 
answered by the screams of the females on their nests, as it 
sweeps past the eaves. Sometimes on such an evening one 
swift will clutch another on a narrow stone ledge under the 
north eaves, and the other, trying to fly off, both will come to 
the ground. I saw two come down in this way not long ago. 
They both got up, but not without some little difficulty, as the 
grass was rather long. My brother has actually had a pair 
touch his shoulder as they fell from a house on to the pavement 
of a street in Petersfield. But they generally part and fly off 
before reaching the ground. A swift can rise from the hard 
* One observation occurs to me that I should be particularly glad to have 
made. It is generally recorded in botanical works that ferns and Gymnosperms 
(fir trees and their allies) are the only groups which are enabled to make the 
green colouring matter or chlorophyll in total darkness, and that all other plants 
turn yellow or white if protected from the light. Now, I find that the leaves of 
the water plant Anacharis remain green when covered and in total darkness. I 
should like to know whether this is peculiar to the plant named, or is a general 
character of submerged leaves. I would ask any reader who has the opportunity, 
to take a flower-pot, cork up the hole, and invert it under water over pond weeds, 
water-moss, callitriche, &c. , &c. , taking care by pressing the pot well down in the 
mud, and of course excluding all air from the pot, that no light whatever can enter 
from below. If it be left, say two or three weeks, it will be readily seen if the 
leaves remain as green as those exposed, or not. 
