SWIFT

[Heb., sis].

Hezekiah, upon recovering from illness, said in a thoughtful composition that he ‘kept chirping like the swift,’ while the prophet Jeremiah used the migratory swift as an example when rebuking the people of Judah for not discerning the time of God’s judgment.—Isa. 38:14; Jer. 8:7.

That the Hebrew sis identifies the swift is indicated by the use of the same name in Arabic for that bird. The name is suggested by some authorities to indicate a rushing sound; but most consider the name to represent the shrill si-si-si cry of the swift. The swift’s cry has a somewhat wailing, melancholy note that makes Hezekiah’s reference to it a very apt one.

Though comparatively small, the swift is ranked as the fastest of all flying birds, capable of bursts of speed up to 170 miles (273.5 kilometers) per hour or more. It uses its long, thin scythelike wings energetically and with seeming tirelessness as it swoops and darts after insect prey, which it engulfs in its large mouth while on the wing. Of the three varieties of swifts common to Palestine, the Alpine swift is the largest and is distinguished by its white underparts. It is the first of the migrating swifts to appear in Palestine at the approach of spring, followed shortly thereafter by long streams of common swifts. Their nests are built in dark places, often inside hollow trees or on the sides of cliffs, and are formed of straw and feathers cemented together with the sticky saliva that the bird’s glands produce. The swift’s feet are evidently not structurally designed so as to allow for walking or perching, so the bird obtains all its food and nest materials while in flight and even drinks by skimming over the surface of the water; it rests by clinging to vertical surfaces.