262 BULLETIN 155, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Supposed to be resident ; local in occurrence. 



The cloud swift is found ordinarily among the hills over towering, 

 steep-sided ridges and about high precipices but through its great 

 speed in flight so annihilates distance that flocks may appear tempo- 

 rarily almost anywhere. It is believed to be resident, and may breed 

 in the interior mountains. Observers will do well to note its occur- 

 rence in the hope of locating nests, as it is one of the most interesting 

 forms in the bird life of the island. 



The earliest certain record is that of Cherrie, who secured one near 

 Santo Domingo City in the early part of 1895, since Cory in 1892 

 had queried its occurrence on the island. Cherrie reported great 

 flocks. Verrill recorded cloud swifts as common at La Vega but says 

 that usually they flew at such elevation that they were beyond gun 

 range. Peters collected four at Sosua February 28, and March 27 

 and 31, 1916, and reported them also at Monte Cristi, Choco, and 

 Rio San Juan. At Sosua, where he saw them most frequently they 

 were irregular in occurrence as sometimes none were observed for a 

 period of a week. They were usually noted just before sundown 

 when a flock would appear from the north and pass toward the 

 south. Abbott secured two males at El Rio, on May 14, and 18, 1919. 

 He saw them at Hondo early in May of the same year, and recorded 

 them as numerous at Constanza on May 10 and 11. On March 5, 

 1921 he recorded many flying low over a ridge above Navarrete but 

 had no gun. On the following morning when he returned properly 

 armed the birds had disappeared. Danforth found them quite 

 common in 1927 at Bonao in June and August, saw several at La 

 Vega June 29 and 30, and noted about two hundred at San Juan 

 June 10 and 11. Others were noted at Comendador. Ciferri 

 forwarded a skin taken at Sabana San Thome, San Juan, June 4, 

 1928 to Moltoni. 



In Haiti, Beck collected specimens at Port-a-Piment June 28 and 

 29, and on the slopes of La Hotte June 28 and July 1, 1917. 

 Bartsch recorded this bird near Glore on April 3, 1917. Wetmore 

 found a number about the precipitous cliffs and over the high slopes 

 of La Selle from April 9 to 14, 1927, and on April 17 observed them 

 above Chapelle Faure, in Nouvelle Touraine. He collected two 

 females on La Selle, one on Morne La Visite April 11, and one above 

 the Jardins Bois Pin April 14. As he made camp with Ekman at 

 the head of the Riviere Chotard a dozen cloud swifts came rapidly 

 over the pines, and on April 11 he found thirty or forty circling in 

 fashion typical of their family over the valley opposite the tremen- 

 dous cliffs that mark the north face of Morne La Visite. At 

 intervals a few darted in over the peak, and by dint of expenditure 

 of much ammunition one came finally to hand after two or three had 



