Swift WESTERN BIRDS 



difference being that wood, rather than bricks, is used 

 for the support. 



This Swift is only about half the size of that other 

 western member of the family, the Black Swift, and is 

 sometimes found in flocks with the latter. Dawson 

 says that the rapid erratic flight and bow-and-arrow 

 shaped position in flight is distinctive, although careful 

 discrimination is necessary while the birds are a-wing 

 to differentiate them. 



GENUS AERONAUTES: SUBFAMILY 

 MICROPODIN.^. 



White-throated Swift. 

 FAMILY— SWIFTS. 



As if to make up for the lack of the common chimney- 

 dweller of the east, the west is given still another mem- 

 ber of this peculiar family. This bird, the White- 

 throated Swift, breeds from southern British Columbia 

 south to Lower California, and from the Pacific Coast 

 east to the Black Hills and western Nebraska; wintering 

 from southern California, south. 



It is larger than the preceding, being nearly seven 

 inches long. The tail is about half as long as the wings, 

 is forked, with stiff and narrowed, but not spiny feathers. 

 The upper parts are blackish, as are also the sides, while 

 the throat, breast, patches on wings, and sides of rump 

 are white. These white markings help to distinguish 

 these Swifts from all others. 



They are, indeed, birds of the high altitudes, living 

 among the peaks and cliffs of the mountains and placing 

 their nests in crevices or caves in inaccessible walls. The 

 nest is saucer-shaped, is made of vegetable fibers and 

 grasses, lined with feathers and glued together and onto 



48 



