WHITE-THROATED SWIFT. 
425. Aeronautes melanoleucus. 6% inches. 
This beautiful swift is one of the most graceful of 
winged creatures. Its flight is extremely rapid and its 
evolutions remarkable. They nest in communities, 
thousands of them often congregating about the tops of 
inaccessible cliffs, in the crevices of which they make 
their homes. No bird has a more appropriate generic 
name than this species—‘‘aeronautes,” meaning sailor of 
the air; he is a sailor of the air and a complete master 
of the art. 
Note.—Loud, shrill twittering, uttered chiefly while 
on the wing. 
Nest.—Placed at the end of burrows in earthy cliffs 
or as far back as possible between crevices in rocks: 
usually in inaccessible places and as high as possible 
from the ground. It is a saucer-shaped structure made 
of vegetable materials cemented together with saliva, 
and lined with feathers. The four white eggs measure 
to) 3x ave 
Range.—From the eastern foothills of the Rockies to 
the Pacific; north to Montana and northern California. 
