FAMILY MICROPODIDÆE: SWIFTS.
- Length: 5.25 inches.
- Male and Female:
- A deep, sooty brown. Wings longer than the tail, which is nearly even, the shafts of the quills ending in sharp spines.
- Note:
- A loud, Swallow-like twitter.
- Season:
- Late April to September and October; a common summer resident.
- Breeds:
- From Florida to Labrador.
- Nest:
- A loose, twig lattice glued by the bird’s saliva, or sometimes tree-gum, to the inside of chimneys; or in wild regions to the inner walls of hollow trees.
- Eggs:
- 4—5, pure white, and long for their width.
- Range:
- Eastern North America, north to Labrador and the Fur Countries, west to the Plains, and passing south of the United States in winter.
This bird, popularly known as the Chimney Swallow, but which is more closely related to the Nighthawk, may be easily distinguished from the Swallows when flying, by its short, blunt tail. You will never see it perching as Swallows do; for, except when it is at rest in its chimney home, it is constantly on the wing, either darting through the air, dropping surely to its nest, or speeding from it like a rocket. The Chimney Swift secures its food wholly when flying, and is more active at night than in the day. In the breeding-season its busiest time is that preceding dawn, and it then works without cessation for many hours. The whirling of the wings as the bird leaves the chimney makes a noise like distant thunder, and if there is quite a colony the inhabitants of the house may be seriously disturbed, and the presence of the nests often introduces bedbugs, as they are to a certain extent parasites of these birds. This makes him an undesirable tenant, and in modern houses, where the flues are narrow and easily clogged, wire is stretched over the chimney mouth to keep him out.
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