Allan Ellison

“ Feathers, small straws, and pieces of rubbish are always found—just such materials as would be blown into the air on windy days; but I have also generally found a quantity of the blossoms, catkins, or bud-scales of various trees, especially those of the oak and beech, which are blossoming just at the time when the Swifts are building, and whose blossoms are frequently blown about by the strong breezes of the end of May. ”

“ R.J. Ussher ('Birds of Ireland,' p. 103) agrees with this. The suggestion that when three eggs are found, they are the produce of more than one female, is, I think, untenable. Far more probably, in many cases where but two are found, one of the eggs has been destroyed, or dropped away from home. Mr. Jourdain has mentioned that broken eggs have frequently been found under the nesting-places, showing that eggs sometimes roll out of the nests. This is a thing very likely to occur, as the nest of the Swift is generally a very slight affair—saucer-shaped or almost flat. ”

“ There is no doubt a good deal yet to be learned about the nesting habits of these interesting birds, for the difficulty of observing them is very great, owing to their breeding in dark holes and crevices out of sight, and often in rather inaccessible situations. ”