Order A/|icropoditormes 



Swifts: Family Mzcropodidae 



Black Swift: 



Nephoecetes niger borealis (Kennedy) 



DESCRIPTION. "Tail slightly forked; tarsus and toes naked, the hind toe pointing 

 backward. Adults: dusky or blackish, lighter on head and neck, the forehead 

 hoary, a velvety black area in front of eye. Young: similar, but feathers tipped with 

 whitish. Length: 7.00-7.50, wing 6.50-7.50, tail 1.30-3.00." (Bailey) Nest: On 

 cliffs, built of straw, etc. Eggs: 5, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southeastern Alaska and southern Colorado 

 south to southern Mexico. Winters southward. In Oregon: Known only as rare 

 straggler. 



ONE OF THE mysteries of Oregon ornithology is the absence of the Black 

 Swift from the State. It is known to breed in both California and Wash- 

 ington but so far has escaped detection in Oregon except for a single 

 specimen picked up dead in a field near Albany, September 2.2., 192.4, and 

 sent to Oregon State College. It is now in the collection of that institu- 

 tion and was recorded by Miss Florence Hague (192.5) as the first Oregon 

 specimen. These swifts undoubtedly pass over Oregon regularly during 

 migration flights, but apparently they make long journeys, as the above 

 specimen is the only one ever seen within the State, unless the swifts 

 noted by Bretherton in September 1898 at Cape Foulweather were of this 

 species, as he suspected. It is peculiar that they pass over the intricate 

 system of canyons and mountains of western Oregon entirely, only to 

 nest in apparently exactly similar places farther north. 



Vaux's Swift: 



Chaetura vauxi (Townsend) 



DESCRIPTION. "Upper parts sooty brown, lighter on rump and tail; tail tipped with 

 spines; under parts gray, lighter on throat. Length: 4.154.50, wing 4.30-4.75, tail 

 (including spines) 1.50-1.90." (Bailey) Nest: Of small twigs, glued together and 

 fastened to the inside of a hollow tree or chimney. Eggs: 3 to 5, white. 

 DISTRIBUTION.- General: Breeds from southeastern Alaska, central British Columbia, 

 and Montana south to central California and Nevada. Winters in Central America. 

 In Oregon: Regular but not common summer resident and breeding bird of western 

 Oregon, including Cascade Range, and of the Blue Mountain area. 



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