SWIFTS: WHITE-THROATED SWIFT 
351 
outdoing the woodpecker type—is tipped with sharp spines for brac¬ 
ing—to prop up the hanging body. And when it comes to nest building, 
a still more astonishing development is found, for the tiny twigs, 
snatched by bill or foot in passing, are firmly glued together by a 
remarkable saliva, a form of which produces what is known to epicures 
as the edible birds’ nest from the far East. The fact that migrating 
Chimney Swifts roost by thousands in large hollow trees or great 
chimneys adds one more point of interest to the life history of this 
unique type of bird, of which even a rare wanderer is a welcome addi¬ 
tion to the New Mexico list. 
Additional Literature.—Pearson, T. G., Educational Leaflet 49, Nat. 
Assoc. Audubon Soc. 
TYPICAL SWIFTS: Subfamily Micropodinae 
WHITE-THROATED SWIFT: Aeronautes saxatalis (Woodhouse) 
Description. — Length: 6.5-7 inches, wing 5.3-5.9, tail 2.5-2.7. Tail moderately 
forked, with stiff and narrow but not spiny feathers; leg and part of toes feathered; 
hind toe directed either forward or to the side but not backward; front toes with 
slight basal webs. Adults: Upperparts blackish, 
with white anterior underparti j, wing and rump 
patches, and lateral tail feathers; feet livid pinkish. 
Young: Similar to adults but black and white duller. j? IG go. White-throated Swift 
Range. —Breeds from southern British Colum¬ 
bia, central Alberta, and Black Hills south to Guatemala and Lower California. 
State Records. —When Woodhouse crossed New Mexico in 1851 with Sit- 
greaves Expedition, he visited Inscription Rock and reported that Swifts were breed¬ 
ing abundantly in the crevices. In describing the species he gave it the appropriate 
name of Acanthylis saxatalisy rock dweller, but as he was unable to get a specimen 
nomenclaturists deprived him of the fruits of bis discovery and employed a later 
name, melanoleucus. [Now, after 77 years, the same saxatalis is restored.] The 
species is common at suitable localities in the mountains through New Mexico. It 
was reported from Fort Wingate July 15 and September 11, 1892 (Hartert). It nests 
from about 5,700 feet near Anton Chico (Ligon); 6,000 feet as noted at Ribera July 2, 
1903 (Bailey); and at 7,300 feet near Chloride (Ligon); to about 8,000 feet in the Capi- 
tan Mountains July 18, 1903 (Gaut); and at Halls Peak (Barber). [A specimen was 
taken thirty miles north of Silver City, June 19, 1918; two others, twelve miles north 
of Silver City, May 4, 1919, one carrying nesting material in a rocky canyon, and one 
fifteen miles southwest of Hachita, May 6, 1920 (Kellogg). In 1920 and 1921 quite a 
colony was nesting in the 300-foot perpendicular cliffs in Canyon el Diablo near 
Buckrnan in northern Santa Fe County. In June, 1921, a good-sized colony was 
found in the rim rock eighteen miles west of Santa Fe, but in 1922 only two pairs 
were left (Jensen). Near Lake Burford, in 1918, they were fairly common about 
sandstone cliffs in canyons, where they were breeding. In addition, from May 30 
to June 4, flocks seemed to be still in northward migration (Wetmore).] 
During migration or in its flights for food or sport the bird is likely to be found at 
almost any altitude even above 12,000 feet, as over the top of Pecos Baldy, where it 
was seen July 31, 1903 (Bailey). Migrants were seen at Lake Burford September 28, 
1904, and at Largo Canyon, October 5, 1906 (Bailey). [Nine were noted October 4, 
1916, near Zuni (Skinner)]; and the last migrant was noted October 9,1889, at Cooney 
