COMMON SWIFT. 
407 
of any natural station for this bird, which we 
would be prepared to find in the clefts and rents 
of rocky precipices. When an entrance is found 
suitable in any old building, the hole is examined 
apd cleared out, often rendered more extensive 
by the bird scraping among the joints of the 
stones ; a small portion of dried grasses or straw, 
&c. is carried in, which is rendered soft and 
warm by a lining of feathers, all of which are 
caught in the air or hanging from some projec- 
tion or ledge, the birds never alighting to procure 
them. We have occasionally seen the Swift 
alighted on a cornice or flat roof, but the motions 
are all awkward, they reminded us of a seal, 
waddling almost on their breasts to the edge, 
where they would fall off as it were, before 
expanding their wings to catch the air. The 
same procedure takes place if the bird be placed 
upon a table ; but at tbe same time, they can 
rise from a flat surface, a road or pathway for 
instance, if forced by necessity so to do ; it is, 
however, done with difficulty, the bird raising 
itself by repeated attempts and strokes upon the 
ground by the shoulders. The Swift is grega- 
rious in small parties of from six to twenty, but 
does not apparently congregate before departure, 
like the Swallows and Martins ; in these small 
troops it delights to wheel around buildings and 
its breeding stations, taking the turns about an 
old tower or church spire with great sharpness 
and precision, and uttering during flight its 
shrill scream or whistle. The troop move in a 
