SWIFTS: Family Micropodidae [359] 



VAUX'S SWIFT was first described by Townsend (1839) from specimens 

 taken along the Columbia near Fort Vancouver, Washington, where it is 

 still fairly common, and since then numerous ornithologists have men- 

 tioned it. It is much more common in Oregon in the Cascades and the 

 valleys westward than in the eastern half of the State, although it occurs 

 regularly in smaller numbers in the Blue Mountains, particularly in the 

 Wallowa Range. It arrives in early May (earliest date, April 2.7, Tilla- 

 mook County) and remains until September (latest date, September 12., 

 Benton County). It usually nests in hollow trees, but is repeatedly found 

 nesting in chimneys after the fashion of its eastern relative, the Chimney 

 Swift. Nests have been found in many localities in western Oregon. In 

 migration it sometimes gathers in huge flocks, one of which roosted for 

 several years in a greenhouse chimney in East Portland. The sight of 

 this company of rapidly moving birds circling about the chimney like a 

 huge whirlpool, with the birds in the vortex dropping like plummets 

 into the chimney, excited much interest among local bird lovers who 

 made many trips to watch the performance. 



Vaux's Swift is a swift, strong flier, its oarlike wings sending the 

 slender body through the air at astonishing speed. Often the bird appears 

 to work the wings alternately, and again, in orthodox fashion. Its speed 

 far surpasses that of the swallows with which it often associates in 

 migration, enabling the swift to dart past the swallows with no apparent 

 effort. 



White-throated Swift: 



Aeronautes saxatalis saxatalis (Woodhouse) 



DESCRIPTION. "Tail about one half as long as wing, forked, with stiffish and 

 narrowed but not spiny feathers; tarsus and part of toes feathered; hind toe directed 

 either forward or to the side, but not backward. Upper parts blackish; throat and 

 breast and patches on wing and sides of rump white; sides blackish; tail without bristles. 

 Length: 6.50-7.00, wing 5.30-5.90, tail i^o-x.jo." (Bailey) Nest: Of feathers and 

 straws or other vegetable matter, glued to the rocks. Eggs: 4 or 5, white. 

 DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southern British Columbia and southern 

 Alberta south to Lower California and southern Mexico. Winters from California 

 southward. In Oregon: Known only from Malheur County. 



As DOES the Black Swift, the White-throated Swift apparently passes over 

 most of Oregon to nest on the cliffs along the Columbia in eastern Wash- 

 ington, though why the exactly similar rims that abound in eastern 

 Oregon are not chosen is one of the intriguing mysteries of the bird world. 

 In addition to our own lone bird, the only records we find for the State 

 are manuscript notes in the Biological Survey files made by E. A. Preble 

 on a trip through Malheur County in July 1915. He saw one near Disaster 

 Peak on July 14, reported a breeding colony of about six pairs on Mahog- 

 any Mountain, and saw four at Watson, July 14, one of which he collected. 



