The Jamaica Palm Swift. BIRDS. The Aculeated Swift. 283 
it. He says — “ Over the grass-pieces and savannas of 
the lowlands, the marshy flats at the seaward mouths 
of the valleys, as well as the pens of the mountain 
slopes, this swift-winged sylph daily urges its rushing 
course, in parties of half a dozen to fifty or a hundred, 
often mingled with other swallows, performing mazy 
evolutions, circling and turning, crossing and recross- 
ing, now darting aloft, now sweeping over the grass, 
till the eye is wearied with attempting to follow them. 
The length of its wings, which is scarcely less than 
that of the whole bird, renders it a fleet and powerful 
flyer ; an attentive observer will be able to identify it, 
when mingling in aerial career, by a more frequent 
recurrence of the rapid vibration of the wings, the 
momentary winnowing, by which a fresh impetus is 
obtained.” But the most curious part of the history of 
this bird is its nidification, which is described by Mr. 
Gosse as follows. After mentioning the mode in which 
his attention was called to a cocoa-nut palm, by his 
noticing these swifts about it, some of them clinging 
to masses of cotton projecting from the spathes, he 
says, that although several other cocoa-nut trees were 
about, none of them appeared to be tenanted, so that 
this swift, like the preceding, is evidently sociable in 
its habits. The first tree could not be climbed, but at 
the foot of another “ lay the dead fronds, spadices, and 
spathes, which had been, in the course of growth, 
thrown off, and in these were many nests. They were 
formed chiefly in the hollow spathes, and were placed 
in a series of three or four in a spathe, one above 
another and agglutinated together, but with a kind of 
gallery along the side, communicating with each. The 
materials seemed only feathers and silk-cotton (the 
down of the Bombax ) ; the former very largely used, 
the most downy placed within, the cotton principally 
without, the whole felted closely and cemented together 
by some slimy fluid, now dry, probably the saliva.” 
Mr. Gosse afterwards procured some nests of this bird, 
which ivere composed almost exclusively of the silk- 
cotton, and which, when separated, had a curious hairy 
appearance, not unlike a doll’s wig. These nests were 
attached to the fronds of the cocoa palms, and resem- 
bled in form those watch-pockets which are often 
suspended at the head of a bed. 
THE ACULEATED SWIET {Acanthylis pelasgia) is a 
native of the United States, where it is known as the 
Chimney Swallow, from its habit of building in the 
chimneys in the summer, like our Common Swallow. It 
is, however, a member of the family Cypselidae, although 
differing from the species of the group previously 
described, in the structure of the feet, which have three 
toes in front and one behind ; this character also pre- 
vails in the remaining species of this family. The 
genus Acanthylis is distinguished from the other Swifts 
by the peculiar construction of the tail, which is short 
and somewhat rounded at the extremity, where the 
shafts of the feathers project for some distance beyond 
the barbs in the form of bare spines, which serve to 
support the bird by pressing against the walls or other 
objects to which it clings. These birds are also remark- 
able for the great extent of their wings in comparison 
with their bulk ; the Aculeated Swift of North America, 
which measures only about four and a half inches in 
length, having -wings extending twelve inches from 
point to point ! The whole of the plumage is of a deep 
sooty-brown colour, with the exception of the chin and 
a line over the eye, which are of a dull white ; the tail 
is black, and the short but muscular feet are of a 
purple colour. 
The Aculeated Swift, like the majority of the insec- 
tivorous birds of temperate climates, is migratory in its 
habits, arriving in the United States about the end of 
April or early in May, and taking its departure again 
towards the south in the first or second week in Sep- 
tember. On their arrival they appear to take up their 
abode in multitudes in the interior of hollow trees, 
from which they are seen emerging with great noise in 
the morning, returning to their resting place at night 
in similar crowds. This circumstance led some of the 
earlier observers of the habits of American birds to the 
conclusion that tliese Swifts passed the winter in a 
torpid state in these hollow trees, which hence acquired 
the name of Sviallow-trees, and at the first glance 
there is some plausibility about this notion. Thus, 
the birds were first observed about the trees early in 
May, that is to say, in the spring, and they were last 
seen entering in September; so that as the trees were 
always respected by the settlers, it was perhaps natural 
for them to suppose that the Swifts remained in this 
comfortable abode throughout the vinter. It was 
found, however, even in Wilson’s day, when the upper 
portion of one of these swallow-trees was blown down 
in the winter, that there were no Swifts in the part of 
the tree broken oft’ ; and the birds never returned tc 
the remaining stump. It is evident therefore, inde- 
pendently of our knowledge of the migratory habits of 
birds of this kind, that these Swifts do not pass the 
winter in their hollow trees, and that the notion that 
they did so originated simply from their making their 
way directly, and in considerable numbers to their 
ordinary places of abode, and departing again as sud- 
denly in the autumn. Wilson supposes that before 
the arri-val of Europeans in America, this bird must 
have built its nest in such hollow trees as those above 
mentioned, and adds that this is still its practice in the 
remote western districts where chimneys are compara- 
tively unknown luxuries ; but in the older states, the 
Aculeated Swift quits the rustic abode in which it takes 
up its residence on its first arrival, and proceeds to 
build its nest within the chimneys, which are, of course, 
disused during the summer. The nest resembles those 
of most Swifts, in being composed of small twigs and 
similar articles united together by a glutinous matter. 
It is small and shallow, and attached by one side to the 
wall of the chimney; its cavity has no soft lining of 
feathers, and it usually contains four white eggs. The 
birds generally have two broods in a season. They 
feed their young with great care, and even continue 
their attentions to them throughout the night. Some- 
times when there has been a long continuance of 
heavy rain the nest becomes softened and loosened from 
the wall, when it, with its contents, is precipitated to 
the bottom. If it contains eggs they are of course 
destroyed ; but when this accident happens after the 
hatching of the young, these, although they may be 
still blind, frequently climb up again into the chimney, 
