246 BIRDS OF THE REPUBLIC OF PANAMA PART 2 



(Biol. Centr.-Amer., Aves, vol. 2, 1893, p. 370) who "was shown by- 

 Mr. Lawrence in 1874 a specimen with its nest found near the Chagres 

 River by Dr. T. K. Merritt." 



The nest itself is an interesting and unusual structure made of 

 plant downs cemented together in the form of a tube from 25 centi- 

 meters to more than half a meter in length, and 12 to 15 centimeters 

 broad. The lower end is open. In the forests this structure is attached 

 to the underside of a sloping tree trunk, or beneath a large limb, 

 below the tree crown and above the undergrowth so that the birds 

 may fly to it freely. Usually the nest swings free, though if the sup- 

 port has only a slight angle from the perpendicular the side may be 

 attached rather loosely to the trunk or limb. Newly made nests that 

 serve as sleeping quarters are smooth-walled cylinders. In the nesting 

 season the swifts use the the same plant materials to make a com- 

 pacted, cupped ledge on the inside, toward the upper end, to hold the 

 eggs. To enter, the birds fly rapidly into the open end and then scram- 

 ble up the inside. 



The materials used are mainly brown and white, felted rather firmly, 

 apparently through application of the secretion of the mouth glands 

 of the bird. Sick (Auk, 1958, p. 218) in Brazil records numerous 

 small feathers mixed with the plant down. As I have noted from 

 year to year at the Gorgas Laboratory site, nests may suffer damage 

 and loss of part of the length. Repairs and replacement are made as 

 required on the original base. Belcher and Smooker (Ibis, 1936, p. 

 28) in Trinidad found that a nest used for several seasons might have 

 as many as 4 cups to contain the eggs, placed one above the other. The 

 eggs are white with faint gloss. Two sets of 3 each, collected May 15, 

 1943, and March 16, 1944, at Fort Sherman, Canal Zone, by Major 

 General G. Ralph Meyer, were from nests suspended under a beam 

 in a covered way in one of the officers' quarters. One set is definitely 

 long elliptical in form. The 3 eggs measure as follows: 19.6x12.6, 

 20.1x12.7, and 20.4x12.9 mm. The other has the eggs somewhat 

 more elongated, with the sizes as follows: 20.0 X 12.1, 21.5 X 12.0, and 

 21.5x12.1 mm. 



The nesting season in Panama appears to range from March to 

 August. The swifts are believed to sleep in the nests throughout the 

 year. 



The normal flight of this species is high in the air, regularly 80 to 

 100 meters above the ground, often higher. Usually, they are not 

 recognized as they are small. If check is made with binoculars occa- 

 sionally one may be identified through a flash of white from the 



