2^6 



Merrill on /h'nfs oj Fort Klamath, Oregon. [J"ly 



during summer, nesting usually near the tops of tall dead pines, especial- 

 ly isolated ones, from which they can obtain a good view of passing insects, 

 which they will often follow to a considerable distance. About the middle 

 of August manj' arrive from the north and gather in large flocks, some- 

 times of one or two hundred. Tliey now feed largely on grasshoppers, 

 for which they search in fields and along roadsides, and at a little distance 

 are easily mistaken for Blackbirds. 



Colaptes cafer. Seen once or twice only during the winter. In April 

 they pass north in great numbers, and many remain to breed. Migrants 

 were first seen March 14, atid were abundant on and after the 20th. 



Chordeiles virginianus. First heard on May 30 before sunrise, and 

 within a week were fairly abundant. By the middle of June they were 

 very common, and so continued till autumn. 



[Dr. Merrill's Klamath series includes six adults, two males and four 

 females. These are certainly much nearer to virginiatius than to either 

 henryi ox sennctti, although they average rather paler than eastern speci- 

 mens. In one of the males the white on the wing involves the shaft and 

 a portion of the outer web of the outer primary. In both males the white 

 on the tail is continuous across both webs of all the feathers. — W. B.] 



Chaetura vauxi. During the early autumn of 1886 this species was very 

 common, leisurely migrating in flocks of from fifty to one hundred or 

 more, and keeping well out of gunshot. 



In the following spring they were first seen May 6, when a flock of 

 about twenty was observed flying low over a meadow, and one was shot; 

 no note was heard and they soon disappeared. No others were noted 

 until the 19th, when four were seen pursuing insects above the tops of the 

 highest trees. After this they became quite common, and so remained 

 during the summer. While collecting in the marsh on the third of June 

 a cold wind from the mountains suddenly arose ; following the insects in 

 their lowered flight, many Cliff" and Tree Swallows that had been flying 

 at a height of several hundred feet came within easy range, and among 

 them were a few Swifts, of which I shot six in as many minutes. Four of 

 them were males and two females; the ovaries of the latter were scarcely 

 enlarged, and they certainly would not have bred for a month ; the salivary 

 glands of both sexes were of equal size; the legs and feet were purplish, 

 the irides brown. 



While the flight of Vaux's Swift is usually higher than that of the eastern 

 species, and it is generally more difficult to obtain, yet if their habits are 

 closely studied it will be observed that there are times and places where 

 they may be shot without especial difficulty. The height at which they 

 fly depending on that of the insects upon which they feed, they may be 

 most readily secured soon after sunrise; as the day grows warmer and the 

 insects fly higher they follow them and are soon out of gunshot range 

 for the rest of the day, unless a change in the weather should occur. Had 

 I made a specialty of collecting these Swit\s, I could readily have shot 

 several dozen during the season. 



As observed at Fort Klamath this bird is not at all crepuscular; the 



