The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-06
THE SONG SUNG BY QUEER NIGHT BIRDS Chimney Swallow Most
 Graceful of Birds ARE VERY RELIGIOUS owe to Roost About Churches. Can Remain on Wing Sixteen
 Hours Without Pause for

minded hen who was roasting in tho
 same tree. Down by the barn an un happy owl hooted his contempt in al 1 undertone while the jolly rattle of ( kingfisher came up from the creek be
 low. Pretty fragments of bird musi' hoated on the derl<ening air and helpet
 to swell the vesper strains made bA sleepy little childrens voices. On thes;
 calm nights it is d joy to sit out undel
 the great round dome of darkest blu'
 and listen 10 the summer sounds. Jus after sunset a myriad flock of duskS | birds came pouring out of a tower nearby like a bubbling fountain of fiut- tering wings or a whirlwind of ami mated feathers. Long ago they settled in The tower. They came in clusters ot hundreds and thousands. settled sud denly in various chimneys. and will re- main all through their breeding time. These little creatures are the most graceful and agile of all our summer visitors From early in May until late in autumn they will he with us, happy and gay bubbling over with incessant twIttering and murmurs. They are very religious. if liking the church is any sign. In the old World it is the sol chm rock that haunts the church tow CTS. or modest swallow that builds un- der the caves of the sacred edifce. With us il is the little chimney swallow that loves to dwell beneath the droppings of the sanctuary and listen 10 the music of the church going bell
 But this bird is not a true swallow; in fact, il is not exactly bird, but part bird, part bat, and own cousin to the hummingbird of the tropics. It is wholly American. The European bird which builds in chimneys is differ ent in very many respects, placing Its nest in other situations, while our bird is never known to build else where. II has no beauty to boast it is altogether plain, almost bat-like in appearance, but in its way remark ably clever and skillfuL It is a sort ct northern hummng bird, but instead or hunting after honey and insects in that nectar of flowers, it has adopted the habit of chasing midges in the open ar. and has thus acquired the precise form or wings back tail and body so useful to other fly eatchers. It is the most serial of all birds. The air is it's peculiar ele- ment. Here it plays and ehases the in sects and feeds and sings after fash ion with eager. rapid twitter Very little has it to do with the common earth and the plants and the trees, never alighting except within the chimney or cavern. The cid scientists declared that they had no legs, because they were never seen to alight on the branches of trees or on the ground. They feed entirely on the wing. supplying their little ones in the same manner when they are old enough to leave the nest, and they seem to drink flying, as they skim over water How they provide the twigs for their nests 10 one can tell, for they are never seen to pick up material from the ground or break it from trees. Perhaps they pick up the bits of matter as they skim the earth.
 It is said that chimney sweeps can pass 16 hours on the wing without pause for rest or refreshment. They must get some fur out of their busy flight through space, for as they dash and dart along they scream and call in shril high notes as if intoning a song of victory. In these stlll nights and often just before the dark ness of the dawn, we hear them moving around in the parlor chimney, and are startled at their queer, uncanny whisper ings and rustlings. How often as a child have I been walked from happy dreams Ly these weird noises only to wonder at the fearful mystery Many a house has gained d IedTSOlue ItpuldllOH lIOtn thtSS shadowy chimney visitors. Many a hair
 aising ghost story has its origin in the unexplained movements of the dusky swifts. Country people still call them chimney swallows, but they are really more like the bat. In the black chimney they make little semicircular nests, they plaster little twigs together and fasten them to the wall by means of a thick gluten which comes from the throat. This is the material out of which the swallows of the Orient make their edible nests, so priZed by epicures. In these firm pockets the lady swift drops her eggs of pearly white, and she is one of the few birds that lay in the night instead of the day.
 Recent nature students class these little creatures among Birds with a Handi- cap" They have long, powerful wings, but small, weak feet. They can fly fast and far, but can hardly walk or perch.
 The night hawks belong to the. same order, although differing in other respects. After the moon comes up from behind the great stone heap, we often see these queer birds flying in groups of two or four, their great black wings outlined agaIns- the bright sky, and always a clear, boom- ing sound peculiar to the family. They revel in these Inoolit nights and we can hear them at all hours from sunset until dawn. The nighthawk is sometimes called the goatsucker, and in the south + IS known as the 'bul bat" or the night bat" It is lover of the open country and we often see it resting on rocks, or clinging to the fence around the pasture, or lying along some bare tree, right out In sight of any passer-by. We read of ths great Audubon that he knew all of the Ameriacn birds, either by flight, or voice, but it is easy to distinguish the night hawk by these ways. They often go sweeping along close to the ground, near the most busy thoroughfares They drop down suddenly from higher to lower plane in search of insect food, and their rushing wings make boom that is unlike any other noise produced by ature.
 The whip-poor- will is close kin to the night hawk, and is also called a goat sucker. There are more than 100 species of this order in different parts of the world. but we have only the night hawks and the whip-poor-will. Everybody loves the lopely whip-poor-will All of us have heard their songs-very few have seen the singers. But we are rarely favored. In the thick timber back of the orchard loving pair built their nest this spring, and almost every night from the middle of May until July l, they have given us vesper music more beautiful than fairy creams. These shy birds travel by night. and usually announce their presence by a bewitehing call from some unknown place. They love the lonely, undisturbed forest country. They are closely related to the Texan and western night hawxs," says Miller, "and have near associations with the chuck -wills-widow of the south ern states and poor-will and frosted poor will of the west"