WHITE-THROATED SWIFT. 



425. Aeronautes melanoleucus. G 1 /^ inches. 



This beautiful swift is one of the most graceful of 

 winged creatures. Its flight is extremely rapid and its 

 evolutions remarkable. They nest in communities, 

 thousands of them often congregating about the tops of 

 inaccessible cliffs, in the crevices of which they make 

 their homes. No bird has a more appropriate generic 

 name than this species "aeronautes," meaning sailor of 

 the air; he is a sailor of the air and a complete master 

 of the art. 



Note. Loud, shrill twittering, uttered chiefly while 

 on the wing. 



Nest. Placed at the end of burrows in earthy cliffs 

 or as far back as possible between crevices in rocks ; 

 usually in inaccessible places and as high as possible 

 from the ground. It is a saucer-shaped structure made 

 of vegetable materials cemented together with saliva, 

 and lined with feathers. The four white eggs measure 

 ,87 x .52. 



Range. From the eastern foothills of the Rockies to 

 the Pacific; north to Montana and northern California. 



