File:A guide to the birds of New England and eastern New York; containing a key for each season and short descriptions of over 250 species, with particular reference to their appearance in the field (1904) (14568767259).jpg

Identifier: guidetobirdsof00hoff (find matches)
Title: A guide to the birds of New England and eastern New York; containing a key for each season and short descriptions of over 250 species, with particular reference to their appearance in the field
Year: 1904 (1900s)
Authors: Hoffmann, Ralph, b. 1870
Subjects: Birds -- New England Birds -- New York (State)
Publisher: Boston New York Houghton, Mifflin and company
Contributing Library: American Museum of Natural History Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Biodiversity Heritage Library

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
has the ruby throat.Certain sphinx moths, poising before the flowers in theafternoon, are often mistaken for hummingbirds. SWIFTS: FAMILY MICROFODIDiE Chimney Swift. Chcetura pelagica5.43 Ad. — Entire bird sooty-brown, palest on throat; wings longand narrow; tail either cigar-shaped, or, when spread, fan-shaped. Nest, a shallow platform of sticks glued to the inside of achimney. Eggs, white. The Chimney Swift is an abundant summer residentthroughout New England and New York. It arrives to-ward the end of April or early in May, and leaves towardthe end of August; small flocks, presumably migrants fromfarther north, are often seen, particularly along the valleysof large rivers, till late in September. The nest is made of short twigs broken off by the birdwhile flying. It is a moot point whether the bill or the feetare used for this purpose. These twigs are glued togetherand to the bricks in the chimney by saliva, and form a shal-low platform on which the eggs are laid. In northern New
Text Appearing After Image:
£*** Gyircft tfuer/ei. CHIMNEY SWIFT CHIMNEY SWIFT 211 England and New York the Swift still builds occasionallyin hollow trees, as all its ancestors once did, or on theinner walls of barns and outbuildings (Brewster). Rainsometimes loosens the nest, which then falls to the bottom.The young, when fed, keep up an energetic crying, easilyheard through the walls of the chimney. The Swifts common note is either a loud staccato chip,chip, chip, or the same notes run rapidly together. Thischippering, heard from little groups high overhead, is oftenthe first intimation of the birds presence in spring, and itis continued constantly till mid-July, then less frequentlyor only rarely till the birds departure. Chimney Swifts resemble swallows in their appearance onthe wing and in their manner of feeding, but may be distin-guished after a little practice by the appearance of the tail,which is short and cigar-shaped, or fan-shaped when spread,but never notched, forked, or square. Their flight, too,

Note About Images