VAUX'S SWIFT 297 



There are four nests of this swift in the Thayer collection in Cam- 

 bridge, all from Eureka, Calif. One nest is made of pine needles, 

 glued together, and was fastened to the inner wall of a hollow stub 

 and only 2 feet above the ground level. Another was made of spruce 

 twigs and needles and was placed in a burnt redwood stub, 20 feet 

 high; the nest was 12 feet down from the top on the inside. Three 

 of these nests are very small and narrow, so that the eggs had to be 

 laid in two parallel rows; and the bird must have incubated length- 

 wise of the nest, for two of the nests held six eggs each, one five and 

 one four. One larger, well-made nest was constructed of spruce and 

 fir twigs and was profusely lined with spruce and fir needles, 

 smoothly laid; this nest was 3 feet from the ground inside a hollow 

 redwood stub 18 feet high. The other nest was taken from a red- 

 wood stub 60 feet high and about 10 feet in diameter at the base; it 

 was burned black on the outside, but the inside was smooth and un- 

 burned; a V-shaped break on one side afforded an entrance to the 

 hollow 20 feet below the top of the stub ; the cavity below this open- 

 ing was 14 feet deep, and the nest was placed only 8 inches from the 

 bottom of the cavity. 



Some unusual nesting sites have been reported. Charles A, Allen 

 (1880), of Nicasio, Calif., writes: "They are to be found only on the 

 highest hills or mountains, where there are plenty of pines. In 

 these trees they construct their nests, which they build in old holes 

 excavated by the California Woodpecker. They invariably select 

 old, decayed trees, and build at great heights, so that it is impossible 

 to get their eggs." As Mr. Allen evidently did not actually see a 

 nest in such a situation, his statement is subject to confirmation and 

 is offered here only as a suggestion. 



J. A. Munro (1918) says: "Mr. T. L. Thacker sent me a nestling 

 in the flesh, from Yale, B. C. It had fallen from a nest that was 

 built under the roof of the C. P. R. water tank. There are a number 

 of small openings under the eaves, and Mr. Thacker tells me that 

 several pairs breed there every year." 



William L. Finley (1924) tells of a still more remarkable -nesting 

 site: "At Wiedemann Brothers' nursery, is an engine house with a 

 metal smokestack sixty feet tall and thirty inches in diameter. The 

 lower end of the flue broadens out and opens into the front of the 

 boiler. A pair of Vaux Swifts dropped down the metal flue sixty- 

 two feet and built their nest on the front of this metal boiler. * * * 



"Mr. Wiedemann did not find the nest until he heard squeakings in 

 the boiler and thought some bats had taken possession. Opening 

 the metal doors of the boiler, there he saw the parent Vaux Swift 

 with her four young birds. He saw her go and come and even 



