The Northern Black Start 
Mr. Vrooman when ' T .vmm.d a ■- jnaijo. After a long motor 
drive up the coast in ■ ;> -•h gale, ve turned in at a poitit 
where the cliffs wen . nly ■ ; i, v i high. Here the surf, crashing 
against the abrupt sea vvah. i -. ;'u vegetation moist; and here, at a 
.point some thirlv it iu • '■'■> a of file cliff, the location was made. 
The Swift, when appr -i-w.f • i t im-sence by the rattling of Yrooman’s 
“cle. ii box," darted downward toward idle water, and passing with 
strong wing-stroke • ;:■ i■. * the surface of the water, stood straight to 
sea until lost from -i K le. A •b.uT Swift i knew it to be at first glance, 
hut this was mes/av; Io:haf >r a land bird. A Kaeding Petrel or a 
r ; ._ s ; a •; h it d I'rmn its b.u :ov and tossed into the air, would have 
..,.r , ; \ should ; hi-. hmier of heavenly gnats, this inspector 
, ; p, : ,T e; nemes | b;; i Ai ant of clouds, seek the sympathy 
£ |, c sei jusion ■ d.e ope; so-).? Quien sabe? Although we knew about 
w !-;(.r; t h, : hh-d bad • so, we did not know the precise spot quitted. 
The minute -..me’., fl ..re-fore, required several resettings of the stout 
; stake >a. o!!:-;:ort.-d die swinging ladder, and it was nearly an 
!:• > 1 . appeared aloft bearing that studied, matter-of-fact 
n-ssion v. . •’• ; k precur-or of important news. He had found the 
. ,, !s . • ! <• some 30 feet down, half hidden in the growing 
Nesting Site of Black Cloud Swift 
From a photograph by W. Leon Dawson 
Taken in Santa Cruz County SV ' k 1 !fl f ,;: " :; ' n 1 
, 
j , ; y..:, , , o f ,(v ( ! wri upon a neighboring point, and had 
• . eing her sweep grandly upward to her nesting ledge, 
pi 1,.) inquisitive gaze. even- of binoculars, but 
r 10 : 0- nndmibtediv was brooding on her solitary, titled egg. 
S• v va; . r,), ; vood to be true. i Ids mistress of the clouds, this storied, 
quoted, eccentric sky-wanderer, sitting there with wings meekly folded, 
p.-uind a tussock of grass! We felt like the farmer at the circus, who, 
havi? v gazed long at the giraffe, declared. “By gum, there ain’t no such 
• re-mu re/ ’ 
hen -i , ■ flushed again, after another reminder from Vrooman’s 
r.Hfk -!• <• had the camera set for her. But she was quite too nimble 
. ; ,-i shutter ser at i Toot) of a second. And so she passed 
r », ..,- a r f(£a ; ;t Jb.-hig -traight beyond the range of 8-power glasses, and 
leaving u- m undesputed possession of the pearly trophy, 
<>f American birds' eggs, is remarkable not alone 
>,.} ; rr. has hr i(s large size, greater than that of any 
, ;i u • y, us • Yc. i s '•• i i k.,,n with the egg of the White- 
th.. i p . . • kh it h ;o ii.- about three times larger, 
