A First Glance at the Birds, 



forth with swift, corkscrew flight, on 

 fluttering wings, to catch its insect food 

 about the streams. The only other 

 species with which I am familiar is the 

 white-throated swift, a larger, more 

 powerful bird, with a loud, chattering cry 

 and less nocturnal in habits. I found it 

 abundant about Capistrano Mission dur- 

 the winter season, and breeding amid 

 the rocks at Mt. Diablo. The black 

 swift also occurs in certain limited re- 

 gions within our confines. 



We all know the humming-birds, the 

 tiniest of the feathered race, with their 

 beautiful iridescent coronets and neck- 

 laces, their whirring, insect flight, their 

 alertness and vivacity; and most of us 

 have, on some lucky day, found their 

 exquisite little lichen-covered down- 

 lined basket, deftly hidden upon the 

 limb of a tree and holding two of the 

 daintiest white dots of eggs that mother 

 bird ever brooded over. Concerning 

 the different species of hummers, as they 

 are termed in the bird books, compara- 

 41 



