Swifts in a TowerThe swift has greater mastery of the air than any other bird, but is one of the least known, as it nests inaccessibly in holes. The Author studied a colony in an Oxford tower, by substituting glass-backed nesting boxes for the ventilators in which they were nesting ; after which the birds could be watched from a few inches away, thus providing unique means of studying them. Their flight (which may last five hours), courtship and nesting behaviour were fully studied, and have been illustrated with unique photographs by electornic flash by H. N. Southern. Behaviour in the air was also observed, swifts being the only birds known to mate on the wing. They also drink, bathe and collect their food and nesting materials without alighting, and even spend the night on the wing. Swifts migrate to South Africa, but the old story that they hibernate contains some element of truth. The races of swifts are described, their birth-rate and death-rate analysed, and comparisons are made with the many tropical swifts, some of which (such as those whose nests provide 'Birds-nest soup') have habits as remarkable as those of our British bird. When first published in 1956, this book was the first full-length study of perhaps the most remarkable of all British birds, and now seventeen years later has become a classic in its field. Not only is it an invaluable text for ornithologists, but its non-technical language makes it suitable for readers with a general interest in natural history. Just below the tower where the swifts nested, Samuel Wilberforce and T. H. Huxley held their famous debate on evolution, and adaptation forms a recurrent theme in the book, its wider implications being considered in a final chapter. -- from dust jacket. |
Contents
INTRODUCTION page II | 16 |
SETTLING IN AND THE FIGHT FOR HOMES | 25 |
COURTSHIP | 37 |
Copyright | |
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adaptation adult swifts aerial Africa air-borne insects alpine swift Apus Apus apus average bad weather behaviour birds black swift broods of three cave swiftlets Chapter chick chimney swift clutch cold colony common swift Crataerina dark dusk entered entrance feeding feet flew flight flying further Gilbert White glide Gloger's rule grams ground habit hatched Hence hibernation house swift hummingbird incubation insects instance Koskimies later leave mate meal migration minutes moving natural selection nesting hole nestling swift night normally observations occurred Ă–land Oxford pair pallid swift parents pectoralis minor muscles presumably probably race rain raised records roosting scissor-tailed swifts screaming seen similar sometimes song-birds spine-tails starling stay suggests summer survive swallows Switzerland tail threat display throat torpid tower trees upstroke usually watching weather movement Weitnauer white-rumped swift white-throated swift wind wing winter World palm swift yearlings young swift