THE BLACK SWIFT. 



411 



W'asliington. But 011 brighter days, ami ortlinarih'. the passing tlirong 

 occupies tlie whole heavens, and a bird seen darting across a distant cloud 

 mav in anotiier instant descend to the tree-tops. Altho not quite so speedy 

 as the \Vhite-throated Swift, there is no bird whose aerial evolutions convey 

 such a sense of power and unfettered freedom as do those of tliis veritable 

 sky-scraper. 



The extraordinary \ 1 ilitalnrial powers possessed 1>\- the Cloud Swifts 

 ])erniit a breadth of dail}' range unmatched in the case of anv other species. 

 We sujjpose that the flocks which appear here and there at sea-lexel thruout 



ni.Ac 1; s\\ ii'i s 



the summer nest onl}- in the Cascade ^ilountains: and it is easy to see that a 

 hundred mile dash before breakfast would hardly figure in the day's work. 

 On this account, we may fairly presume that the Cloud Swifts are really less 

 numerous than might be supposed from the analogy of other birds. Per- 

 haps half a dozen roving bands woidd comprise the entire population of 

 the State. A company nesting on Glacier Peak might elect to spend one 

 day hawking over Gray's Harbor, and the next in the Palouse country. 

 Some such diurnal shifting does exist, for at Chelan I have seen the Swifts 

 in June passing down the vallev at earlv morning, and retiu'uing in the 



