The Vaux Swift 
Taken in Humboldt County Photo by the Author 
A STUMPSCAPE 
THESE RUINS OF A REDWOOD FOREST OFFER ATTRACTIVE NESTING SITES TO VAUX SWIFTS 
Authorities.—Woodhouse (Acanthylis pelasgia), Rep. Sitgreaves Expl. Zuni 
and Col. R., 1853, p. 63, part (Calif.); Bendire, Life Hist. N. Am. Birds, vol. ii., 1895, 
p. 183, pi. 1, fig. 26 (egg); J. Mailliard, Bull. Cooper Orn. Club, i., 1899, p. 44 (Santa 
Cruz Id., migr.); Taylor , Condor, vol. vii., 1905, p. 177, fig. (Humboldt Co.; desc. 
nest and eggs); Willett , Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 7, 1912, p. 59 (s. Calif.; migr. dates). 
SO MUCH has been said above in praise of the larger Swifts of 
the West, that little remains for this humbler sky-scooter, the smallest 
of the American group. Truth to tell, we are not able to give a very 
clear account of three quarters of a century’s “scientific” acquaintance, 
having earlier established a lazy habit of describing it in terms of its 
eastern cousin, the Chimney Swift (Clicetura pelagica), which it does very 
closely resemble. This quotation at least from “The Birds of Ohio” will 
exactly apply: “The way of any bird in the air commands interest, but 
the way of the Swift provokes both admiration and astonishment. With 
volitatorial powers which are unequalled by any other land bird, this 
