the possession of R. B. Hale, Esq. M. P . of Alderley, to
whom I am indebted for the use of a British-killed Bee-
eater, as mentioned at page 202, that gentleman has most
obligingly allowed me the use j>f the White-bellied Swift
also for this " work, and the figure at the head b f the last page
was drawn from it. The second bird in order ,of-date, was
shot near Buckenham Church in Norfolk, in the middle of
September 1831-, and is now in the possession of a gentleman
at Old Buckenham^. The th ird . specimen' was killed
early in March 18S3, at Rathfarnham in Ireland, and is preserved
in-the fine collection of birds bjefcnging;~tb T. W ^
Warren, Esq. as noticed by Mr. Thompson of Belfast; and
the fourth was picked up dead, near Saffron Walden, i n
Essex, in July 1888, as communicated to me by Joseph
Clarke, Esq.
This bird visits the continenFof Europe,:, from Africa,
every season, and is found at Gibraltar, in Spain, Provehce,
France, Switzerland, the Tyrol; "Italy, the islands of Sardinia,
Malta, and those of the Grecian Archipelago. On its arrival,
Dr. Latham says* it frequents ponds and marshes for fifteen,
or twenty days, after which it retires, to the mountainous
parts to breed. In'Spain „this bird builds among the high
-rocks about Aragon. In France, M. Viei'ltot says-, this.sp'eV
cies only shows itself-in the countries borderingionthe-Alps.
I t flies with still greater rapidity than, the Common Swift, and
has in proportion a greater length .of wing, feeding almdsflex,-1
clusively on thoseinsects which live in the high regions ©f air.
The bird appears to have the general habits of our Cbmmon
Swift, from which, however, it is easily recognised, even when’'
on the wing, by its larger size, and its conspicuous white belly.-
Iligh rocks, and the loftiest parts. of * cathedrals and church
spires, are the places chosen by. this bird, in file fissures -‘of
which it forms a nest of straw and mb'ss, and these ar.e united
by a glutinous matter, which, when dry, makes the nest' very
hard. Vieillot says the' nest is small for the, size of the
bird, and when fixed against a vertical surface is in the form
of a half circle*. This birdvj^ys four or five elongated white
eggs.
The White-bellied Swift annualljbvisits the rocks in the
Cantoncofj|||fibv!athe high. ilfetple at Berne, the. cathedral
at Fribourg, and other suitable places in the countries already
named, and M.$We|Mot says it isJ alsopfound at Constantinople^,!
The Ch/jjpelus Africgmus, .or ,Le Martinet a gorge
blanche* of LeWa-illanf's' Birds of Africa/-is considered to
thé sam^fS tMs White-bellied Swift.
The' beak-as " black, and lo'hgg^ in p röp'orMbn than in the
Commo^pwft\:;^,Ahe H i^fdes 1 blhckilm the top of the
. head,* sidesrofi tlfe neek^-nd all Bfpjnippe ^surface of thé-body,
wings/t and" tail; neatly Mnifdrm fiair-firpwn ; chin, throat,
M^|t*,,and b e lly ^ h ite ; a band ^ r o ^ ,5tho'np|>’i^spart ofdfie
breast-t:-the thigffs’Vv vent, ^a^dbmdbr. tail-cövert-s, .diair-brown ;
Cditb^rs^oiï the legs' o r a n g ^ j^ ^ li; fclaws dark
brown.
fj«The whD'le length ^ofi the- bird from the ipoint of the beak
to the^fend of&fhe feathers$t©%thb tail, wMéfe§rêvlbfked 'and
.vjey,y.stiffi, i ^ ^ f t i H,g|Cfs|and; three-ei^ths*' From bhe-carpal
llfiwk of th%.»lg*.to ^the--endi*4f the lo n g e d feather, eight
inohep.,,andfesfiy^M^ths ; »bhe wings,|v|hqn ^[ope% reach^t-wp1
inehe^ ^ y nd^l^ ^rfd^of thfe 'forked ta il; the .second quill-
fèatlf|lSthe longest wing%Jyhos -fits> feather”. „Clittlë
longer than theythird ; thetshafts of all blacky .