WESTERN BIRDS Swift 



Swifts of the genus Collocalia are composed entirely of 

 this substance. 



Swifts lay white eggs and the young are naked when 

 hatched. They feed entirely while flying, and with their 

 unusually long wings and small, compactly feathered 

 bodies possess unrivaled powers of flight. They are 

 popularly confused with Swallows, but the resemblance 

 is only superficial and exists chiefly in the similarity of 

 flight and feeding habits, while the stmctural differences 

 between the two are numerous and important. Chapman. 



GENUS CYPSELOIDES : BLACK SWIFT. 



Black Swift: Cypseloides niger boredlis. 

 FAMILY— SWIFTS. 



The Black Swift is a western bird, breeding from 

 southern British Columbia and southern Colorado south 

 to central Mexico, wintering in southern Mexico. 



It is about seven or seven and one-half inches long, 

 has the tail slightly forked, is dusky or blackish, lighter 

 on head and neck, with the forehead hoary, and a velvety 

 black space in front of the eye. The young resemble 

 the adults but have the feathers tipped with whitish. 

 The wings of these birds are six and one-half inches long, 

 or nearly as long as their entire body. 



Dark creatures of the air these Swifts, indeed, are as 

 in large straggling flocks they search for food. Some- 

 times they fly low and again they hunt thousands of 

 feet up in the air where they are heard, rather than seen. 



Although they nest in the mountains in various parts 

 of the west, their nests are placed on the face of inacces- 

 sible cliffs so that little is known of their nesting habits. 



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