The Birds of Wiltshire Comprising All the Periodical And Occasional Visitants
The Birds of Wiltshire Comprising All the Periodical And Occasional Visitants
Alfred Charles Smith
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118. COMMON SWIFT (Cypsdus apus). The scientific name of this bird (signifying ' the hole- frequenter without feet, ') is intended to characterize its habits and appear- ance cypselus rather obscurely denoting its habit of building in holes of walls (/cvtylXai) ; apus referring to the shortness of its feet. It has indeed, feet so short that they may almost be said to be want- ing, and are quite unfit for moving on the ground, on which it never alights, for in truth the shortness of the tarsi an...d the length of wing render it unable to rise from an even surface. The toes, four in number, are all directed forwards, giving the foot the appearance of that of a quadruped rather than of a bird ; the claws are much curved, enabling it to cling to the perpendicular face of a wall, rock or tower which form its principal resting-places thus the feet, useless for locomotion, where they are not needed, are perfect for grasping, for which they are required. The wings are extremely long and powerful, giving the bird astonishing swiftness and endurance of flight, so that for sixteen consecutive hours, from the early dawn to twilight of a long summer's day, these indefatigable birds will career at an immense height above the earth ; and there at such vast elevations they not only find innumerable insects which soar so high above our heads, but what is more astonishing, an abundance of a species of minute spider with which those lofty regions appear to be tenanted, and of whose numbers we 202 308 Hirundinidcc.
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