Francis Charles Robert Jourdain, The Zoologist (1901)
“ On a summer's evening some five or six birds may be in sight, hawking busily in different directions, when suddenly one will dash off towards the house screaming. Every Swift in sight at once joins in the chase, and the flock race round and round the house, invariably in one direction, passing close to where the nests are, and screaming all the time. ”
Francis Charles Robert Jourdain, The Zoologist (1901)
“ The sitting birds squeal in sympathy as the flock dashes past, and, after several complete circuits, the squealing ceases, the flock suddenly disperses, and desultory hawking is resumed, until the signal is again given, and another game is started. Occasionally one sees short chases carried on in the open, but the recognized course is round the house, and the game is repeated time after time on a fine evening. ”
Francis Charles Robert Jourdain, The Zoologist (1901)
“ When the young leave the nest one or two are generally killed by striking the walls of the house. Sometimes, but more rarely, an old Swift is picked up stunned, but usually recovers after a time. Starlings often take possession of Swifts' nesting-places, but not without having to fight for them, and sometimes Starling and Swift will come headlong to the ground, grappling one another, in which case the Swift generally gets the worst of it. ”
