82 NEBRASKA ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION 



two-thirds of the distance to the top, was a ledge upon which rested 

 the last year's nest of a pair of Krider's hawks and into which Mr. 

 Hunter had longingly gazed, from the top of a neighboring pine, at the 

 two eggs, so near and yet so far. Around this nest and on the west 

 side of the cliff were scattered the nests of the swifts, as could be 

 seen by the way in which they were constantly darting in and out of 

 the cracks and crevices, keeping up a constant vigorous chattering as 

 they wheeled, circled, and darted about in the vicinity of the cliff. Their 

 swiftness of wing and the poor footing made the work of collecting 

 any for skins well nigh an impossibility, and it was only after a long- 

 continued fusillade that one lone bird was secured. After various plans 

 for reaching the nests had been discussed, I volunteered to make an 

 attempt to climb the cliff. The trunk of a small pine, cut down by 

 Mr. Hunter the year before, lay at the base of the cliff, and when this 

 was erected I was able to ascend about one-third of the distance to a 

 narrow projection of rock at a point where several nests were supposed 

 to be. As may be seen from the photograph, there is a shoulder of 

 rock, but a few feet in wddth, running perpendicularly up the side 

 of the cliff and ending in the projection I have just mentioned. This 

 shoulder was made by a vertical section of the face of the cliff slipping 

 down and still remaining in an upright though rather unstable condi- 

 tion, and it was up the narrow side of this section that I must climb 

 in order to reach, the miuch desired nests above. This cliff consists, as 

 do all the rocks of the region, of a soft sandstone which is rapidly disin- 

 tegrated by the action of the elements upon it. This fact made the 

 ascent far more precarious than it otherwise would have been, since 

 one could never tell when the portion of rock which, sustained his 

 weight would tumble away. But while this was a great difficulty, it 

 was also the means which, made it possible for me to ascend the cliff, 

 since I was able, with the small handaxe which I carried, to cut foot 

 and hand holds in the rock and thus gradually make the ascent. 



I think anyone can appreciate the task of clinging to the nearly 

 perpendicular face of a cliff for the length of time sufficient to cut 

 steps for the ascent of nearly fifty feet. But persistence finally over- 

 came all obstacles and I stood at the top within easy reach of three 

 nests, one of which was still empty while another contained one egg 

 and the third two. The nests were made entirely of feathers, glued 

 into a compact mass by means of the saliva of the bird, and also 

 securely fastened by the same means to the bottom of the vertical 

 fissures in the rock in which they were placed. By this time Dr. Wolcott 

 had climbed by a roundabout way to the top of the cliff and let down 

 a coil of rope over the face of the rock to assist me in the descent. 

 Owing to the overhanging nature of the cliff the rope hung out several 

 feet beyond reach and I was compelled to draw the end up by means 

 of a stout cord which I happened to have. Taking a turn of the rope 

 around one leg I started to slide down but stopped a short distance 



