SWIFTvS 



175 



Young Swifts are naked when hatched and for about two weeks are fed in the nest. 

 After that they leave the nest and clinj^ to the wall beside it. 



Swifts arc ver>' beneficial, as their food is entirely made up of insects; and they 

 should be encouraged to take up their residence near human habitations. Because the 

 parasites which use the Swifts for hosts resemble bed-bugs, the birds have been unjustly 

 accused of bringing these pests into houses; but the fact of this matter is that these parasitic 

 insects would quickly die if separated from their hosts. 



BLACK SWIFT 

 Cypseloides niger borealis {Kcnncrty) 



A. O. U. Number 42_' 



Other Name. — Xortliern Black Svvifl. 



General Description. — Length, 7^^ inches. Plum- 

 age, sooty-blackish, lighter below. Tail, slightly forked, 

 the feathers not tipped with spines. 



Color. — Adult M.^le : Crown and hindneck, deep 

 grayish-brown or sooty, passing into sooty-blackish 

 on back and other upper parts (the wings and tail 

 very faintly glossed with bluish) ; chin and throat, 

 much lighter grayish-brown passing into much darker 

 sooty on under parts of body and under tail-coverts 

 (the color slightly darker than that of crown) ; 

 feathers of forehead and crown, narrowly margined 

 at tip with grayish-white, these whitish tips much 

 broader on sides of forehead, blending on edge into a 

 distinct whitish area bordering the upper edge of the 



velvety-black lores; marginal under wing-coverts, very 

 narrowly margined terminally with pale grayish ; bill, 

 black; iris, dark brown. Adult Female: Similar to 

 the adult male but tail less notched (nearly square), 

 under parts, paler. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: In crevices of sea cliffs 

 of the California coast and on inaccessible mountain 

 walls; a flimsy structure of grass and rootlets snugly 

 tucked away in a niche of the rocks. Egg: One. nearly 

 three times the size of the White-throated Swift's egg, 

 pure white. 



Distribution. — Western Nortli America ; breeds 

 from southern British Columbia and southern Colo- 

 rado, south to central Mexico; winters in southern 

 Mexico. 



Like the White-throated Swift, this species 

 breeds on inaccessible cliffs, though its nest is 

 sometimes placed on the cornice of a btiilding. 

 Its flight resembles that of the Chimney Swift, 

 but it is much larger tlian that familiar bird of 

 the eastern .States and quieter, too; in fact, Mr. 

 Ridgway, who observed the Black Swifts in 

 Nevada, says they were " perfectly silent " there. 

 An observer of them in Cuba, however, reported 



that when one of these Swifts pursues another, 

 the pursuer utters a series of soft notes, some- 

 what like a song. They are often seen hawking 

 for insects above the city of .Seattle, but usually 

 at an altitude of from 300 to 500 feet, except 

 when showers are imminent. 



To A. G. Vrooman of Santa Cruz, California, 

 belongs the honor of discovering the first au- 

 thentic eggs of this species. 



CHIMNEY SWIFT 

 Chastura pelagica {IJnnccus) 



A. O. U. Number 423 



Other Names. — Chimney Swallow; American Swift. 



General Description. — Length. 5'4 inches. Plumage, 

 sooty-blackish, lighter below. Tail, less than V2 length 

 of wing, rounded or even, the feathers with spiny tips. 



Color. — Adults : .^bove, plain dark sooty-olive 

 passing into paler grayish-brown on rump, upper tail- 



coverts, and tail, the plumage slightly glossy, the 

 feathers of crown darker centrally, producing an 

 indistinctly scaly eflfect, those of the rump and the 

 upper tail-coverts sometimes very narrowly and indis- 

 tinctly tipped with paler; rigid shafts of tail-feathers, 

 black ; wings slightly glossy sooty-blackish, the inner 



