BLACK SWIFTS.
The extraordinary volitatorial powers possessed by the Cloud Swifts permit a breadth of daily range unmatched in the case of any other species. We suppose that the flocks which appear here and there at sea-level thruout the summer nest only in the Cascade Mountains; and it is easy to see that a hundred mile dash before breakfast would hardly figure in the day’s work. On this account, we may fairly presume that the Cloud Swifts are really less numerous than might be supposed from the analogy of other birds. Perhaps half a dozen roving bands would comprise the entire population of the State. A company nesting on Glacier Peak might elect to spend one day hawking over Gray’s Harbor, and the next in the Palouse country. Some such diurnal shifting does exist, for at Chelan I have seen the Swifts in June passing down the valley at early morning, and returning in the evening for several successive days, after which they would absent themselves for a month. Again, at early morning, we have seen them filing thru Cascade Pass from west to east, hot-wing, as tho they had business in Idaho.
Taken in Chelan County. Photo by the Author.
CASCADE PASS.
WHERE BLACK SWIFTS HAVE BEEN SEEN.
These Black Swifts nest chiefly in the mountains upon the face of inaccessible cliffs. This much we know, but the nest and eggs are still unknown[67]. The closest call which these elusive fowls have had at nesting time is thus reported by Major Bendire[68]: “The only locality where I have observed this species was on the upper Columbia River, opposite Lake Chelan, Washington, in July, 1879. Here quite a colony nested in a high perpendicular cliff on the south side of and about a mile back from the river, and numbers of them flew to and from the valley below, where they were feeding. The day was a cloudy one, and the slow drizzling rain was falling nearly the entire time I was there; this caused the birds to fly low and they were easily identified. They evidently had young, and the twitterings of the latter could readily be heard as soon as a bird entered one of the numerous crevices in the cliff above. This was utterly inaccessible, being fully 300 feet high and almost perpendicular; and without suitable ropes to lower one from above it was both useless and impracticable to make an attempt to reach the nests. These were evidently placed well back in the fissures, as nothing bearing a resemblance to one was visible from either above or below. In this locality I believe fresh eggs may be looked for about June 25.”
I had word of the nesting of these birds in the summer of 1906 upon a majestic rock wall overlooking the Sahale Glacier in the Upper Horseshoe Basin of Chelan County, but a visit paid to this scene the following season failed to discover either nests or birds, altho local miners were ready to confirm the report of their presence the previous season. Dr. Edward Hasell, of Victoria, informs me that they have nested about a certain cliff overlooking Cowichan Lake on Vancouver Island. The cliff referred to is about 1,600 feet high, and access was, therefore, out of the question. Mr. W. H. Wright, the well-known nature student and guide, of Spokane, tells me that he once saw these birds nesting among some cliffs called “The Chimneys,” which are five or six miles distant from Priest, Idaho. He saw the Swifts carrying twigs to the cliffs, but did not take further notice of their actions. He visited The Chimneys at the same time of year on each of two succeeding seasons, but saw nothing of the Swifts. From these reports, and from the fact that the country referred to by Bendire has been ransacked in vain, I conclude that the Black Swifts are continually shifting the scene of their annual nestings, being, in fact, as erratic in this regard as they are in the matter of their local appearances at the lower levels.
No. 160.
VAUX’S SWIFT.
A. O. U. No. 424. Chætura vauxi (Townsend).
Description.—Adults: Above, sooty brown, lightening, nearly hair-brown, on rump and upper tail-coverts; below, light sooty gray, lightening, nearly white, on chin and throat; lores velvety black; shafts of tail-feathers denuded at tips a third of an inch. Length about 4.50 (114.3); wing 4.50 (114.3); tail 1.59 (40).
Recognition Marks.—Strictly “pygmy size,” but comparison misleading—to appearance, swallow size; rapid erratic flight and bow-and-arrow-shaped position in flight distinctive. Altho this species is only half the size of the preceding, careful discrimination is necessary while the birds are a-wing.
Nesting.—Nest: a shallow half-saucer of short twigs, glued together with the bird’s saliva and similarly cemented to the wood inside of a hollow tree. Eggs: 4-6, pure white. Av. size, .77 × .50 (19.6 × 12.7). Season: June; one brood.
General Range.—Pacific Coast States and British Columbia, breeding thruout its range; south in winter to Central America.
Range in Washington.—Not common summer resident in timbered sections and in mountain valleys; locally distributed.
Migrations.—Spring: Blaine, May 8, 1905. Fall: Seattle, September 20, 1907.
Authorities.—Cypselus vauxi Townsend, “Narrative,” 1839, 348. T. C&S. Rh. D¹. Ra. D². B. E.
Specimens.—Prov. C. E.
“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 unequaled by any other land bird, this avian missile goes hurtling across the sky without injury, or else minces along slowly with pretended difficulty. Now it waddles to and fro in strange zigzags, picking up a gnat at every angle, and again it “lights out” with sudden access of energy and alternate wing strokes, intent on hawking in heaven’s upper story. At favorite seasons the birds cross and recross each other’s paths in lawless mazes and fill the air with their strident creakings, while here and there couples and even trios sail about in great stiff curves with wings held aloft. It is the only opportunity afforded for personal attentions, and it is probable that the sexes have no further acquaintance except as they pass and repass in ministering to the young.