The pale crag martin (Ptyonoprogne obsoleta) is a bird in the swallow family that is resident in northern Africa and in southwestern Asia. It breeds in mountains, other rocky areas and towns. It is 12–13 cm (4.5–5 in) long, with mainly brown plumage, and paler below, with white "windows" on the tail that show as it hunts along cliffs for flying insects. It builds a deep bowl or quarter-sphere nest on a flat surface, vertical rock face or wall, made with mud and lined with grass or feathers. It is normally a solitary breeder, but small groups may sometimes nest close together. The two or three eggs of a typical clutch are white with brown and grey blotches, and are incubated by both adults for 16–19 days prior to hatching. Both parents then feed the chicks. Fledging takes another 22–24 days. With a large range and apparently increasing population, this species faces no major threats. It is assessed as a least-concern species on the IUCN Red List. (This article is part of a featured topic: Crag martins.).

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Crag_martins

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1913:

Public-transportation workers in Indianapolis went on strike, shutting down mass transit in the city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indianapolis_streetcar_strike_of_1913

1917:

World War I: Allied forces defeated Turkish troops in Beersheba in Southern Palestine at the Battle of Beersheba, with the battle involving one of the last successful cavalry charges. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Beersheba_%281917%29

1973:

Three Provisional Irish Republican Army members escaped from Mountjoy Prison in Dublin aboard a hijacked helicopter that landed in the prison's exercise yard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountjoy_Prison_helicopter_escape

2005:

The discovery of the Plutonian moons Nix and Hydra, based on photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope nearly five months prior, was announced. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_%28moon%29

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

devilment: 1. (uncountable) Devilish action or conduct; wickedness; (more generally) troublemaking behaviour; mischief; (countable) an instance of this. 2. (countable) 3. A devilish, mischievous, or reckless nature; mischievousness. 4. Something considered cruel or evil; also, something which causes distress or suffering. 5. Something cleverly constructed. 6. (often humorous) A dish which is devilled (“made piquant or spicy”); a devil; also, the elements of the dish which make it spicy, or the piquancy or spiciness of the dish. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/devilment

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Time engraves our faces with all the tears we have not shed.   --Natalie Clifford Barney https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Natalie_Clifford_Barney