SWIFTS 



with irregular flifjlit over town and country 

 in search of an evening meal. They are dark- 

 phunaged birds, barred and streaked with 

 whites and grays and browns in intricate 

 patterns, and they show conspicuous white 

 wing patches as they soar overhead in the 

 twihght. Their pecuHar screeching cry and 

 hollow booming sound are characteristic 

 noises of hot summer nights. 



The nighthawk is highly migratory, coming 

 from its home in the tropics in May and June, 

 going as far north as British Columbia to 

 spend the summer and returning South again 

 about the first of October. 



The nighthawk lays its two oblong, even- 

 ended eggs on the bare ground in open places 

 in fields, pastures and hillsides, and sometimes 

 on a flat rock or boulder, or in the gravel on 

 a beach near water. The eggs have a marbled 

 appearance, being blotched and streaked 

 with varying shades of lavender, grays and 

 blackish brown, blending perfectly with their 

 surroundings. 



FAMILY MICROPODIDJE: SWIFTS 



Vaux swift, Chcotura vauxi. 4.30 



Distribution: Pacific Coast region 

 from Alaska to Lower California; rare east 

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