' CHIMNEY SWIFT. 387 
House. About sundown they seem to come from all directions, and, as if 
driven by a whirlwind, circle around in the air high above the chosen 
spot. One by one, they drop into the opening, almost as if shot. Not 
unfrequently some disturbance drives them out again, and the formal 
circling is repeated until, at last, going to bed is comfortably accom- 
plished. 
The nest of the Chimney Swift, which, as above stated, was formerly 
placed in hollow trees, is now with very few exceptions fastened to the 
inside of a chimney, sufficiently below its top to be protected from the 
rays of the sun. Inadeep woods about three miles east of this city I 
have known the cavity of a tall tree to be visited by these birds, for three 
successive seasons, and I have no doubt they nested there. Whether this 
habit had been unbroken by their ancestors from the time antedating 
chimneys, or was a retrograde movement, I cannot venture an opinion. 
Since the introduction of smaller flues to chimneys, and the almost uni- 
versal use of coal in this city, the birds seem to be less generally dis- 
tributed and, perhaps, less numerous. 
A beautiful nest of this bird was presented to me by my friend, Arnold 
Boyle of this city. He took it from the inside of a barn in Wyandot 
county, where its position was similar to that of the Barn Swallow. | 
The nest of the Chimney Swift is built of small dead twigs which are 
broken from the trees by the birds while on the wing. In cities, locust 
twigs are preferred. These are glued together and to the side of the 
chimney by the saliva of the bird. In this basket-like structure from 
four to six pure white eggs are laid, which measure .75 by .50. 
FAMILY TROCHILIDA. HUMMINGBIRDS. 
Secondaries only six. Bill tenuirostral, longer than head, nearly cylindrical. Gape 
' constricted. Tongue filiform, extensile, bi-tubular. Wings, long in terminal portion 
abbreviated proximally, acute. Plumage compact, of metallic sheen. Size smallest of 
all birds. , 
Sub-family TROCHILINA. Typical Hummingbirds. 
Anterior toes not connected at base. Plumage brilliant, with more or less metallic 
lustre, at leastin the males. 
Genus TROCHILUS. Linneus. 
Feathers of throat but little elongated laterally ; tail forked (in males), its lateral 
feathers but little narrower than the others, laneeolate-acute, 
