NEPnCECETES BORE.VLIS. 5(35 



olhor with tlieir strong claws, come whirling- to the grounfl, just bd'orc 

 roachiiiy- which they would loosen their clutches and separate, or after 

 again asceniling- resume the strug-gle. Others hovered around overhead, and 

 Avithout seeming aware of our presence, entered, now and then, the small 

 horizontal fissures in the overhanging cliif to their nests, which were utterly 

 inaccessible. 



Specimens of this bird were extremely difficult to procure from the 

 fact that most of those shot fell among the rocks where they could not l)o 

 reached, Avhile when away from the clifts they flew at too great a height to 

 be reached with shot. 



The notes of this Swift are strong and rattling, sometimes rather shrill, 

 certain ones resembling very much the chatter of }oung Baltimore Orioles 

 {Icterus baUiinore) as uttered while being fed by their pai-ents. 



List of specimens. 



S:iG, Sad; Camp 10, East Humboldt Mountains, July 13, IS08. GJ^— 133— (»)— 

 41. Bill, deep black; iris, dark bister; tarsi and toes, pale livid pinkish; naked eye- 

 lids, sepiabrowu. 



8.{7, 9 ad.; same locality and date, fii— 14— (?)— 4[|. 



84(5, i ad.,- same locality, July 20, 18G8. 7— 14J— (?)— 5. Interior of moutli, livid 

 flesh color. 



NePOCECETES NIGER. 

 Black ^will. 



fi. horealis. 



Ci/p.sclus borcalis, Ke.NNERLY, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Philad., 18."»7, 202. 



Ifephoccetcs niger var. borcalis, CouES, Key, 1872, 183; Check List, 1873, No. 270. 



Xephacetes nigcr. h. borcalis, COUES, Birds N.W., 1874, 269. 



yc2)ha-irlcs nigcr, Uviui), Birds N. A-n., l.^.'.S, 142; C.it. N. Am. Birds, 1S.")0, No. 



IdS, [not llirundo nigra, Gmkl., 1788, = Xephwcctcs ']. — Cooi'EK, Oru. Ca!., I. 



1870, 349.— B. B. & li., Hist. N. Am. B., 429, pi. XLV, tig. 4. 



Tlie occurrence of this Swift in the valley of the Truckee was made 

 known to us only through the discovery of the remains of an individual 

 Avhich had been devoured by a hawk or owl, the sternum, wings, tail, and 

 feet having been left upon a log in a cotton-wood grove. On the 2.jil of 



•The Wout Indian form. 



