SAND-MARTIN. HIRUNDO RIPARIA, Linn. PLATE XLII. FIG. 3. Hirundo riparia, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 344. 4.-Fauna Suec. No. 273.-Gmel. L'Hirondelle de Rivage, Buff. Ois. v. 6. p. 632.—Id. Pl. Enl. 543. f. 2. the Uferschwalbe, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. v. 3. p. 922.-Meyer, Tasschenb. Sand-Martin, Br. Zool. 1. No. 170.-Arct. Zool. 2. No. 332.—Albin. 2, PROVINCIAL. Sandy-Bank, Sand-Swallow. THIS bird is the earliest of the tribe in its visit to Britain, Periodical and is first seen about the end of March. visitant. It is partially distributed through the country, and is only found, in any considerable number, in such districts as offer suitable situations for its peculiar mode of nidification, which is confined to precipitous sandy banks, whether as the boundary of rivers, or otherwise.-In these, by means of its bill and claws, it burrows horizontally, to a considerable depth, Nest, &c. and, at the end of the hole, makes a nest of hay, straw, feathers, &c. on which it deposits four or five white eggs. Mr Low states this species to be very common, and more numerous than the other, in the Orkney Islands.-It is mostly seen skimming the surface of lakes and rivers, where it meets with an abundant supply of gnats, and other aquatic flies. Food. Its manners are similar to those of the other species, with which it frequently associates, though I am not aware that it assembles in flocks, like them, previous to its periodical departure. It is the smallest of the genus that visits Great Britain. General description. PLATE 42. Fig. 3. Natural size. Bill black. The upper parts, cheeks, and pectoral band, dark hair-brown. Wings clove-brown, inclining to blackish-brown. Throat, belly, and upper tail-coverts, white. Tail brown, forked. Tarsi and toes naked, with the exception of a few small feathers placed at the insertion of the hind toe. The female is similar in plumage to the male bird. The young have the upper parts of their plumage bordered with pale or wood-brown; and the tail-feathers margined with yellowish-white. GENUS CYPSELUS, ILLIG. SWIFT. GENERIC CHARACTERS. Bill very short, depressed, and wide at the base, triangular; the gape extending beyond the posterior angle of the eye; upper mandible deflected at the point. Nostrils cleft longitudinally on each side of the ridge, open, with a prominent margin, beset with small feathers. Feet having the tarsi very short and thick; toes four, all directed forwards, entirely divided, of two phalanges each, strong, and armed with thick and hooked claws. Tail composed of ten feathers. Wings very long, the first quill being rather shorter than the second. Dr LATHAM, in his Index Ornithologicus (under the head Hirundo Apus), first suggested the propriety of separating the Swifts from the Swallows. In this idea he is supported by ILLIGER, TEMMINCK, and other eminent naturalists, who have accordingly adopted the generic term Cypselus for these birds. In many respects they resemble the preceding genus, feeding and living much in the same manner. They construct their nests in the holes of buildings, or in the clefts of rocks, forming them of various soft materials, col lected upon the wing, cemented together by a viscid matter, secreted for that purpose, by appropriate glands. They never alight upon the ground; the shortness of their legs, compared with their great length of wing, preventing their rise from a flat surface. COMMON SWIFT. CYPSELUS MURARIUS, Temm. FLATE XLII. FIG. 4. Cypselus murarius, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. v. 1. p. 434. Hirundo Apus, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 344. 6.—Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 1020. sp. 6.- Brachipus murarius, Id. Vög. Liv. und Esthl. 143. PROVINCIAL.-Screech, Develing, Black Martin. THIS is the only British species of its genus, and is with Periodical us a summer visitant *. The Swift is seldom seen in the northern parts of England before the end of May, or the beginning of June; in the south it arrives a week or two earlier. It leaves us again for warmer climates in August, a month or six weeks previous to the departure of the Swallows. In this country it haunts Since the publication of the first edition of this volume, a specimen of the Alpine Swift (Cypselus alpinus), was sent to me by WILLIAM SINCLAIR, Esq. of Belfast, which was killed within eight or ten miles of the south coast of Ireland. Mr SINCLAIR thinks it probable that the species annually resorts to that part of the island, but as such a fact has not been ascertained, I only thus casually mention it. visitant. cathedrals, towers, churches, and other buildings not constantly inhabited, in the holes, and under the eaves of which it finds a safe retreat, and proper situation to build in.—The Nest &c. nest is formed of straw and other suitable materials, which it collects with great dexterity in its flight. Food. These are cemented together, and the inside of the nest is plastered with a viscid substance, furnished by glands peculiar to certain birds of this genus. The eggs are usually two, but TEMMINCK says three or four, of a transparent pinkish-white. The form of the Swift is admirably adapted to its mode of life, the greater part of which is passed in floating through the air. Its head is broad and flat, the neck very short, and the wings longer in proportion to its size and weight, than those of any other bird. Except during the short periods of nightly repose, the Swift is constantly upon wing; in fine weather flying at a great height, and describing extensive circles with an easy sweeping motion; in a damper state of the air its flight is nearer to the ground; in both cases regulated by the situation of its insect prey, which is higher or lower as directed by the atmospheric changes. It has been remarked that these birds delight in sultry weather, with approaching thunder-storms, at such times flying in small parties, with peculiar violence, and as they pass near steeples, towers, or corners of buildings, uttering loud screams, which WHITE, in his Natural History of Selborne, supposes to be a sort of serenade to their respective families. This is fanciful and pretty; but I should rather be inclined to reason the opposite way, and to consider this action and cry as the consequences of irritability, excited by the highly electrical state of the atmosphere at such times *. The above mentioned scream is the only note this bird possesses. Like the Swallows, it is frequently seen skimming the surface of lakes and rivers in pursuit of its food, and, like them also, it both drinks and bathes upon See note in the account of the Green Woodpecker. the wing. The shortness of the tarsi, and the great length of the wings, render the Swift unable to rise from an even surface; it is therefore (as if conscious of such inability) never seen to alight on the ground. It can, however, fix itself with ease against the perpendicular face of walls or rocks, by means of its strong toes and hooked claws, which are disposed in a different manner from those of the preceding genus. It is found throughout the Old Continent, but has not been met with in America. According to TEMMINCK, it does not migrate beyond the Tropics. PLATE 42. Fig. 4. Natural size. Bill black. Throat smoke-grey. The rest of the plumage General descripgreenish-black, with reflections; the feathers close in tion. texture, and firmly pressed together. Tarsi covered with small feathers. Irides brown. FAMILY III-CAPRIMULGIDE. THE members of this family (which forms the second typical division of the tribe) are birds of nocturnal or crepuscular habits, clothed with a plumage, both in texture and appearance, very similar to that of the Owls, with which raptorial group they are brought into close connection by means of the genus Podargus, where the bill acquires great strength and convexity, and the space around the eyes and base of the bill becomes furnished with radiating hairy feathers. In the typical genera the external or horny part of the bill (as in the Hirundinida) is very small and slender, the gape very large, and its margin beset at regular distances with long stiff bristles, moveable when requisite, and, by their converging power, of use in securing and detaining their prey. The legs are short and weak, but there is a full development of wings and tail, and consequently a correspond VOL. 1. I |