SWIFTS 



(425) Aeronautes melanoIeu = 

 cus 



(Baird) (Gr., :iir sailor; black, white). 



WHITE-THRO.VTED SWIFT. 

 A large, handsomely marked species 

 frequenting western mountain ranges. 

 Plumage as sho\Yn, chiefl}' blackish 

 above lightening on the forehead; 

 tips of secondaries broadly white; 

 throat, a line down the middle of the 

 belly and spot on either side of the 

 rump white; flanks brownish. L., 

 6.75; Ex., 14.00; W., 6.75; T., 2.60, 

 slightly forked and not s p i n e d . 

 Nesl — In burrows in earthy clitTs or 

 among crevices of ledges usually in 

 inaccessible places; three or fourduU- 

 white eggs, .87 x .52. 



Range — Breeds from .\lberta and 

 B. C. southward to Guatemala; 

 eastward to the Black Hills and 

 western Neb. 



them in clinging to upright surfaces' their wings are very 

 long and narrow, worked by powerful breast muscles, 

 perfectly formed for the aerial life that these birds lead. 



Formerly they nested exclusively in hollow trees — large 

 trunks, with wide-open tops. Now they nest almost as 

 exclusi\'ely inside of chiinneys. The nests are made by 

 fastening small twigs to the sides of the chimney, putting 

 them on one by one, firmly cemented by glutinous saliva, 

 until the structure assumes a half-saucer shape, projecting 

 out about three inches and being about one inch in depth. 

 The young swifts are hatched naked and blind. They are 

 fed by regurgitation and remain in the chimney for about 

 a month before they are able to make their way to the top 

 and wing out over the housetops. 



WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS are large, handsome 

 species, without spines on the tail feathers, for their homes 

 are in holes in high bluffs or in crevices of cliffs, and they 

 have no need of these appendages. They are abundant in 



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