. . h CHIMNEY ^\ Life-size. GOATSUCKERS, HUMMING-BIRDS, ETC. 241 nests are fastened to the perpendicular walls of old missionsor between crevices in the rocks. Occasionally an old, aban-doned well is used. It is noticeable that swifts fly higher during clear, sun-shiny weather, and an extreme or abrupt change in theweather may be safely forecasted when the birds are noticedskimming low over the roofs. Their only note is an unmusical twitter, which they utterwhen flying at top speed. The shafts in the tail extend fullyone
. . h CHIMNEY ^\ Life-size. GOATSUCKERS, HUMMING-BIRDS, ETC. 241 nests are fastened to the perpendicular walls of old missionsor between crevices in the rocks. Occasionally an old, aban-doned well is used. It is noticeable that swifts fly higher during clear, sun-shiny weather, and an extreme or abrupt change in theweather may be safely forecasted when the birds are noticedskimming low over the roofs. Their only note is an unmusical twitter, which they utterwhen flying at top speed. The shafts in the tail extend fullyone-quarter of an inch beyond the feathers, but these are notvisible in flying; neither is the insignificant bill; so that onediscerns merely a pair of long wings attached to a littlebody, and the bird might easily be mistaken for a bat. Swifts are closely allied to nighthawks and the whip-poor-wills. They exhibit little intelligence, except in theconstruction of their nests, and, were it not for their abun-dance in most sections, the birds would be little noticed bythe c
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booki, booksubjectnaturalhistory
