Jan., 1915 
THE NESTING OF THE BLACK SWIFT 
9 
time he wrote lie had neatly labelled skins of Gypseloides niger borealis, Aero- 
nautes melanoleucus and Chaetura vauxi ranged alongside in his cabinet. A 
keen eye and unquenchable enthusiasm for field work, together with twenty 
years experience at Santa Cruz, had left this man of forty the possessor of a 
nearly complete collection of both skins and eggs of the local birds. He was 
in a position, therefore, to know, and to know that he knew when he spoke 
of Black Swifts. It was double pity, too, that we heard him first with unbe- 
lieving ears, because this patient student of nature proves to be a man of many 
pleasant qualities. Hospitable and generous to a fault, he is also vivacious 
and humorously picturesque in speech. His mind is well stored with incident 
and example of bird-lore, and his enthusiasm in things out-of-doors is so con- 
tagious that he makes an ideal field companion. For all this, Mr. Vrooman has 
never traveled largely, save to and from his old home in New York State, and 
he has kept his ornithological light under an ancient bushel. 
But if Mr. Vrooman fell silent over the skepticism which greeted his an- 
nouncements, he did not remain idle. Every succeeding June found him 
searching the sea-cliffs of that indented shoreline west of Santa Cruz for a 
Fig. 5. A Bit of Santa Ciuiz coast 
stretch of thirty miles. Battling with the unceasing wind which rages along 
that coast, he crept along ledges, peered over precipices, shook his rattle-can 
down wave-lashed hollows, or else lay on his back for hours at a time, trying 
to unravel the purposes of some wandering Cypseloides. Failure attended 
his early efforts as often as success. Of the thirteen seasons spent in this 
quest since the original discovery, four went unrewarded. Nevertheless, as 
the years passed, and acquaintance with this bird of mystery deepened, the 
patient seeker was able to determine certain laws which govern the Black 
Swift’s movements and choices, insomuch that he is fairly confident of being- 
able to make at least one nesting location each season. "What these laws are, 
it is no purpose of this present article to inquire; for we hold it self evident 
that the discoverer deserves his luck, — in this instance at least ; but we will 
give an unvarnished account of what befell us under the guidance of this 
genial naturalist on the 22nd of June last. 
The June location of the season of 1914 was made some dozen miles west 
of Santa Cruz. Even Mr. Vrooman did not know the precise spot from which 
