i«g8 1 Richmond, The Cayeiuie Szvifi. Q 



hundred cartridges, I was the possessor of nine Cayenne Swifts 

 and about a dozen of the two species of Chceiura. 



From the little information available, and from my own experi- 

 ence, it would seem that this SwiTt is rather local in its distri- 

 bution, a colony of the birds being found in one locality and none 

 at all a few miles distant. Mr. Chapman found them to be 

 common at La Brea in Trinidad ^ but observed none at other 

 localities on that island. The ' I. P.' plantation was the only 

 place in Nicaragua where I noticed them, and none were seen 

 on the Rio Frio in Costa Rica, although a large assemblage of 

 other species was found late one afternoon on that river. 



These birds pass the day executing their gyrations high in the 

 air, often considerably above the other species, at times, however, 

 freely associating with them. They work over a considerable 

 area in search of food, usually in loose flocks. One moment 

 many Swifts will be over head, a little later none are to be seen 

 except at the opposite end of the plantation or across the river. 

 In a short time — ten minutes or so — they are back again, and 

 the manoeuvre is repeated. Thus while shooting Swifts, we will 

 have many opportunities to bring down birds for a short time, 

 followed by an intermission in which to look for lost ones. In 

 my case the intermission was usually passed in marveling over 

 my inability to shoot specimens with cartridges which had been 

 soaked for a week or more in salt water. 



In ordinary flight the tail is closed, and the bird cannot easily 

 be distinguished from the spiny-tailed species, but individuals 

 often pause in their evolutions and soar for a brief interval at 

 which time the tail is widely spread. 



The note usually uttered by this Swift is a pleasing, rather 

 long-drawn chee or chee-ee^ at other times a chee-wee-ti.'ee-zvee^ given 

 in a shrill pitch. Wounded birds have a squeeky, clicking note, 

 several times repeated. 



Although the birds were so numerous, the thought of finding 

 a nest did not occur to me. Nests of many of the tropical birds 

 are so well concealed, so carefully protected from the invasions 

 of snakes, ants, monkeys, and other animals, and the vegetation 

 is so very dense that one has little chance of finding them except 



iBull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., VI.. 58. 



