8 
THE CONDOR 
Vol. XVII 
Finally, becoming tired of the wait, and cringing from the blasting heat 
of the summer sun, we scoured the neighboring grassy jungles in an effort to 
rout out the owner of the nest, but not a “hide nor hair” did we see. 
The characteristic birds of the two-acre marsh were raising a considerable 
disturbance. A pair of Kingbirds had a nest in a small locust tree by the side 
of the railroad track on the edge of the marsh, and were quite solicitous about 
the two young which it contained, flying and twittering about our heads. A 
feAv nests of the Florida Red-wing still contained eggs, probably second set- 
tings. One held four eggs, rather unusual for the bird in the vicinity of Hous- 
ton. Now and then a Florida Nighthawk would float lightly by. And the 
Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Southern Meadowlarks, Orchard Orioles, Western 
Lark Sparrows, Western Grasshopper Sparrows, and Dickcissels were twitter- 
ing, singing and buzzing, and probably all were nesting near at hand. 
A hundred yards north of the nest of the Louisiana Clapper Rail, and just 
outside the limits of the marsh, we did indeed flush a Southern Meadowlark 
from her arched or domed nest containing four nearly fresh eggs. It was 
cunningly concealed under a tussock of grass, slightly sunk in the ground and 
well lined with dry grasses. 
The rails evidently deserted the nest after our careless handling of the 
eggs; for, though several trips followed that of June 11, not a bird was seen 
in the marsh. The nest gradually acquired a deserted air, soon appearing 
weather-beaten and rough . The eggs, by the Avay, are still in the nest, aban- 
doned to the mercy of the elements. Let us trust that next season the rails 
Avill have less hardships and nest under more favorable conditions. 
Houston, Texas , August 19, 1914. 
THE NESTING OF THE BLACK SWIFT 
A Vindication 
By WILLIAM LEON DAWSON 
AVITH FOUR PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR 
A LL THE TRADITIONS and expectations of ornithologists Avere set at 
naught when A. G. Vrooman, of Santa Cruz, announced ( Vide Auk, Oct., 
1901, p. 394) that he had taken the single egg of the Black SAvift 
( Cypseloides niger borealis) from the bare damp earth of a sea-cliff. It seemed 
incredible, and the writer Avas among those who indulged in cheap witticisms 
at the expense of this newest aspirant to oblogical honors. Not even with the 
announcement of a second discovery, July 9, 1904 (reported in the Condor, 
Nov., 1905, p. 176), was our unfaith shaken, although that astute connoisseur. 
Col. John E. Thayer, of Boston, made haste to secure the eggs and was so de- 
lighted that he wanted more. We thought Ave kneAV our Swifts and Ave did not 
know Mr. Vrooman. Moreover, Ave had been disappointed once before (see 
last, volume of Condor, p. 95), and did not propose to be hoaxed again. Vroo- 
man 's announcements fell coldly, therefore, upon the public ear; and their 
author, a sensitive and conscientious man, relapsed into pained silence. 
For this unpublished naturalist, be it understood, was no upstart. At the 
