A chimney swift is a bird, an aerial insectivore that consumes more than 1000 insects per day. It roosts in brick-laid chimneys. It is not a dusty child from a Charles Dickens novel!

There are many chimney swifts in Côte-des-Neiges and Notre-Dame-de-Grâce — you can see their aerial acrobatics and hear their calls on most late afternoons in summer. I know a wildlife technical teacher who lives on the fourth floor of an apartment building on the edge of Côte-des-Neiges. A chimney swift swooped in through her balcony door, which she caught in her kitchen. Here it is: