Chapter XVIII: Part 18

Authorities.—? _Trochilus rufus_, Aud. Orn. Biog. IV. 1838, 555, pl.
372. _Selasphorus rufus_ Swains, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX.
1858, p. 135. T. C&S. L¹. Rh. D¹. Sr. Kb. Ra. Kk. J. B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P. Prov. B. BN. E.

These gaudily dressed little fellows, seemingly part and parcel of the sunshine itself, are by no means the delicate creations they appear to be. West of the Cascades they are, strange to say, among the very first of the spring arrivals from the South. The vanguard always arrives by the last week of March, and sometimes as early as the middle of that month. East of the Cascades they are considerably later, and are not found in nearly so large numbers. They are seldom to be seen in greatest abundance, however, much before the middle of April. At this season certain bushes flower in profusion, and in these flowers the hummers find unlimited food and drink,—honey, and the innumerable tiny insects which it attracts.

Wright Park, situated in the center of the city of Tacoma, has been very extensively planted with the decorative wild currant; and it is here that hummers may oftenest be seen in great numbers. It is not uncommon to see them by hundreds in this park, and often as many as twenty disport themselves in and around a single bush. They are the most pugnacious little creatures and are continually squabbling, the females being quite as quarrelsome as the males. Their war song is a penetrating squeak, or chirrup. The pausing of one of the birds to select some luscious insect from a cluster of flowers seems to be the signal for an onset from one or more of its fellows, when all squeak with greatest animation. One cannot help believing that this is more or less in the nature of play, for it is joined in by both the males and the females, and the one attacked never resents it in the least. Usually it describes a great circle in the air and descends into the center of some other bush, where it sits watching the others and occasionally preening its feathers. They are exceedingly tame at this season, and the bird-lover may seat himself under some flower-laden bush while these most beautiful little birds hover and perch within three or four feet of him.

What appears to be the only other vocal accomplishment of this hummer is a somewhat long-drawn, rasping note, very loud and harsh for so small a bird. This is made by the male, and, curiously enough, it is the love song uttered while wooing his mate. She perches quietly in the center of some small tree, apparently quite insensible to his frenzied actions. These consist in flying up to a very considerable height, and then dropping in a circular course to within a few feet of where she sits. It is on the downward course that he makes his declaration of love, and if it is done to arouse her he ought to be successful. Certainly it is a sound most startling to a human being, when it explodes unexpectedly within a few feet of his head.

It is almost unnecessary to say that the nesting habits of these little birds are of unusual interest. The male is a disgracefully idle fellow, never doing a stroke of work while the female is building the nest, and leaving her as soon as the eggs are laid. It seems that at least he might feed her while she sits so patiently upon her eggs; but no, he retires to some warm, sunny gulch and spends his time in selfish enjoyment.

Strange to say, the first nest-building occurs during the first week in April, at which season sleet and cold rains are of not infrequent occurrence. This is long before the majority of the species have arrived from the South, and it would lead one to think that the first comers are already paired when they arrive. A nest containing two fresh eggs was found on the 14th of April, the eggs hatching on the 26th. On this last date it was raining in torrents with a bitter cold wind, yet the tiny young did not seem to suffer in the least, altho frequently left for as long as fifteen or twenty minutes by their mother. Indeed it was a mystery where she could possibly have found anything to eat. This nest was saddled upon a twig a few feet above the ground amidst the sheltering branches of a huge cedar, thus protecting the young from any direct contact with the rain.

There is scarcely a conceivable situation, except directly on the ground, that these birds will not select for a nesting site. Such odd places have been chosen as a knot in a large rope that hung from the rafters of a woodshed; and again, amongst the wires of an electric light globe that was suspended in the front porch of a city residence. It may be found fifty feet up in some huge fir in the depths of the forest, or on the stem of some blackberry bush growing in a city lot.

Very often they form colonies during the nesting season, as many as twenty nests being built in a small area. Some large fir grove is generally chosen for the colony, but a most interesting one was located on a tiny island in Puget Sound. This island has had most of its large timber cut away, and is heavily overgrown with huckleberry, blackberry, and small alders. In the center is the colony, the nests placed only a few yards apart on any vine or bush that will serve the purpose. Huckleberry bushes seem the favorites, but many nests are built in the alders and on the blackberry vines.

The nesting season is greatly protracted, for fresh eggs may be found from April till July. This makes it seem probable that each pair raises at least two broods during the spring and summer. After incubation is somewhat advanced, the female is most courageous, often permitting herself to be lifted off the nest before its contents can be examined. At such times the bird student must be on his guard, as the little mother will often resent the intrusion, and her attack is always made at the eyes.

The eggs, so far as has ever been recorded, are invariably two in number. They are immaculate milky white in color; and when freshly laid the yolk makes them look like little pink moonstones, such as one finds on the beach. In shape they are elliptical, and seem large for so small a bird, measuring .50 × .33 inches.

The young are fed by regurgitation. For several days after hatching their bills are little longer than those of any other young bird; but by the time they leave the nest, their sword-like beaks are nearly as long as those of their parents.

J. H. Bowles.

No. 154.
ALLEN’S HUMMINGBIRD.

A. O. U. No. 434. Selasphorus alleni Hensh.

Synonym.—Green-backed Rufous Hummingbird.

Description.—_Adult male_: Similar to adult male of _S. rufus_, but
upperparts shining bronzy green (duller on crown); underparts,
including belly, cinnamon-rufous, changing to white on chest only;
tail-feathers without notching or emargination, the two outer pairs
smaller and very narrow, the outermost acicular. _Adult female_: Very
similar to adult male of _S. rufus_, but with tail as in male _S.
alleni_. Length of adult male: 3.25 (82.6); wing 1.52 (38.6); tail
1.17 (29.7); bill .63 (16). Female a little larger.

Recognition Marks.—Pygmy size; fiery gorget with _green_ back of male
unmistakable; female indistinguishable out of hand from that of _S.
rufus_; outermost tail-feathers less than .10 wide.

Nesting.—As in preceding.

General Range.—Pacific Coast district north to southwestern British
Columbia, east, southerly, to Arizona; south in winter to Lower
California and Sonora.

Range in Washington.—Imperfectly made out; at least summer resident
and migrant west of the Cascades; not yet reported from the East-side.

Authorities.—Lawrence, Auk, Vol. IX. Jan. 1892, p. 44. L. Ra. Kb. B.
E.

Specimens.—C. E.

It is the misfortune of certain well-deserving mortals to be known to fame as the husbands or brothers or cousins of some celebrity. Allen’s Hummer is the daintier, as he is the rarer, of the summer _Selasphori_ but we know him thus far only as a momentary vision. At each appearance we pause to assure ourselves that we really did see a Hummer with a green back _and_ a red gorget, for otherwise, we have been duped again by one of those tiresome female Rufouses.

Mr. R. H. Lawrence records the Allen Hummer as a summer resident of the Gray’s Harbor country, and says of it[63]: “Perhaps as common as _T. rufus_, and frequenting similar places. First noted in 1891 on the East Humptulips, April 30. I had a good view of one on Quiniault Lake June 13.”

Mr. Chas. A. Allen, of Nicasio, Cal., who discovered this species and in whose honor it was named, says of these birds[64]: “Their courage is beyond question; I once saw two of these little warriors start after a Western Red-tailed Hawk, and they attacked it so vigorously that the Hawk was glad to get out of their way. But these little scamps were even then not satisfied, but helped him along after he had decided to go. Each male seems to claim a particular range which he occupies for feeding and breeding purposes, and every other bird seen by him encroaching on his preserve is at once so determinedly set upon and harassed that he is only too glad to beat a hasty retreat. During their quarrels these birds keep up an incessant sharp chirping, and a harsh rasping buzzing with the wings, which sounds very different from the low soft humming they make with these while feeding. * * * During the mating and breeding season the male frequently shoots straight up into the air and nearly out of sight, only to turn suddenly and rush headlong down until within a few feet of the ground. The wings during the downward rushes cut the air and cause a sharp, whistling screech, as they descend with frightful velocity, and should they strike anything in their downward course, I believe they would be instantly killed.”

No. 155.
CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD.

A. O. U. No. 436. Stellula calliope Gould.

Synonyms.—Calliope Hummer. Star Hummer.

Description.—_Adult male_: Upperparts golden-green; tail chiefly
dusky, rufous at base, paler on tips, slightly double-rounded, its
feathers broadening distally and nearly round at tips; sides of throat
and underparts white, washed with greenish and brownish on sides;
gorget somewhat produced laterally, of lengthened acuminate feathers
having white bases, rose-purple, or violet, with lilac reflections.
Bill straight, black above, yellowish below. _Adult female_:
Coloration of upperparts, save tail, as in male; central tail-feathers
green tipped with dusky; remaining rectrices greenish gray mingled
with rufous basally, crossed with black, and tipped with white. _Young
birds_ resemble adult female but are heavily washed with rufous below
and have throat more or less specked with dusky. Length of adult male:
2.75-3.00 (69.9-76.2); wing 1.55 (39.4); tail 1.00 (25.4); bill .57
(14.5). Female much larger—up to 3.50 (88.9).

Recognition Marks.—Pygmy size; the smallest of the northern ranging
species; gorget of male with _radiating_ feathers of rose-purple hue
distinctive, but female hard to discriminate afield.

Nesting.—Much as in other species. Av. size of _Eggs_: .47 × .30 (11.9
× 7.6). _Season_: June or July according to altitude; one brood.

General Range.—Breeding in the mountains of the West, north to central
British Columbia; south in winter to the mountains of Mexico.

Range in Washington.—Summer resident, chiefly in Transition and
Canadian zones, east of the Cascades, and in these mountains to the
limit of trees. Mr. Lawrence’s record remains unique for the
West-side, but the bird probably breeds in the Olympics also.

Authorities.—? Lawrence, Auk, Vol. IX. Jan. 1892, p.44. Bendire, Life
Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II. 1895, p.219. L¹. D². J. B.

Specimens.—P¹. C.

Ornithologists have been hard put to it to provide names for these most exquisite of birds, the Hummers. The realms of callilithology, chromatics, esthetics, astronomy, history, classical mythology, and a score beside, have been laid under tribute to secure such fanciful and high-sounding titles as the Fiery Topaz, Ruby-and-Topaz, Allied Emerald, Red-throated Sapphire, Sparkling-tail, White-booted Racket-tail, Fork-tailed Rainbow, the Sappho Comet, the Circe, Rivoli and Lucifer Hummers, the Adorable Coquette, and, last but not least, the truly Marvelous Hummingbird (_Loddigesia mirabilis_). What wonder, then, that with so many children to provide for, Gould, the great monographer of the _Trochilidæ_, should have named this nearly silent but always beautiful species after the muse of eloquence, Calliope?

While it is true that the species may be found in abundance thruout the higher Cascades, and especially along their eastern slopes, it is hardly just to say with Bendire, that “the Calliope Hummingbird is a mountain-loving species and during the breeding season is rarely met with below altitudes of 4,000 feet, and much more frequently between 6,500 to 8,000 feet.”[65] We have found it commonly in the northern and eastern portions of Washington at much lower altitudes, and have taken its nest in the burning gorge of the Columbia at an altitude of only six hundred feet. In the mountains the bird knows no restriction of range, save that it avoids the heavily timbered slopes of the West-side; and it is at least as common along the divide as is the Rufous Hummer.

Without doubt the mind remembers longest those birds which visit the mountain heather beds, gorgeous with flowers, and varied beyond description. A bit of heather on Wright’s Peak at an elevation of 8,000 feet, yielded thirty-two species of plants in conspicuous bloom within a stone’s throw of camp. The Hummers appear to be attracted to the flower beds by color and position rather than by scent, and as sure as we neglected to rise with the sun, a troop of puzzled honey-hunters hovered by turns over our parti-colored blankets. Once a Hummer minutely inspected a red bandana handkerchief which graced the bird-man’s neck; and once, I regret to say it, fluttered for some moments before his nose (sunburned!).

The tower and dive of the Calliope Hummer produces at its climax a squeak of the tiniest and shrillest quality. It is a sight well worth seeing when one of these elfin gallants, flashing like a jewel and bursting with self-consciousness, mounts slowly upward on vibrating wings to a height of a hundred feet, then darts back with the speed of lightning to make an affectionate pass at the placid lady on the twig below. The same tactics are pursued when the cat or a snooping chipmunk is the object of attention, but the change in temper is unmistakable. I do not feel sure that the spitfire will strike an enemy, but the sudden explosions of winged fury hard about the ears are quite sufficient to put a prowler in a panic.

The secret of nest-finding in the case of Hummingbirds lies in the tell-tale wing-buzz of the female as she quits her nest. In this way, on the 17th of June, 1906, we found the first Washington nest of the Calliope, in the dense greenery of La Chapelle’s Springs, on the Columbia River, near Chelan Falls. The nest was saddled on a slender descending branch of a red birch tree, at a point seven feet out from the trunk and twelve feet from the ground. It was overshadowed by a little canopy of leaves, and was held in place not only by its lashings of cobwebs, but by a drooping filament from a loftier branch.

In eastern Oregon Bendire found these birds nesting extensively in the pine trees. The nests were usually settled upon a cluster of pine cones, and so closely simulated their surroundings that detection would have been impossible save for the visits of their owners. Ridgway figures[66] a four-story nest taken at Baird, California, and believed to represent the occupation of successive seasons.

_Caprimulgidæ_—The Nighthawks (Goatsuckers, etc.)

No. 156.
POORWILL.

A. O. U. No. 418. Phalænoptilus nuttallii (Aud.).

Description.—_Adult_: A narrow band of pure white across throat; below
this in abrupt contrast a band of black; under tail-coverts clear
creamy buff; the three outer pairs of rectrices tipped broadly with
white or buffy white; remaining plumage an exquisite complex of
skeletonized black centers of feathers with buffy and intermingled
dusky marginings, the whole producing a frosted or tarnished silvery
effect; black most conspicuously outcropping on back and on center of
crown; buffy “silvering” most complete on sides of crown,
wing-coverts, and upper surfaces of tail-feathers; black of underparts
appearing chiefly as bars where also mingled with pale olivaceous;
flight feathers finely and fully banded, ochraceous and blackish. Bill
black; feet (drying) dark brown; iris brown. Length: 7.00-8.00
(177.8-203.2); wing 5.50 (139.7); tail 3.50 (88.9); tarsus .65 (16.5).

Recognition Marks.—Strictly Chewink size but appearing larger; smaller
than a Nighthawk, which it superficially resembles in coloration.
_Poorwill_ cry heard a hundred times to once the bird is seen.

Nesting.—_Eggs_: 2 laid upon the bare ground, creamy white with a
faint pinkish tinge, oval to blunt elliptical oval in shape. Av. size,
.99 × .75 (25.2 × 19). _Season_: c. June 1st; one brood.

General Range.—Breeds from the western portions of the Great Plains
west to the Cascade-Sierra Ranges, north into British Columbia,
Alberta, etc.; south in winter thru Mexico to Guatemala.

Range in Washington.—Not common summer resident in treeless portions
of eastern Washington.

Authorities.—_Antrostomus nuttallii_ Cassin, “Illustrations,” (1856)
p. 237. C&S. D¹. D². Ss¹. J.

Specimens.—Prov. C.

The sun has set and the last chore is done, all save carrying in the brimful pail of milk, which slowly yields tribute of escaping bubbles to the evening air. Sukey, with a vast sigh of relief, has sunk upon the ground, where, after summoning a consoling cud, she regards her master wonderingly. But the farmer boy is loath to quit the scene and to exchange the witching twilight for the homely glare of the waiting kerosene; so he lingers on his milk-stool watching the fading light in the western sky and dreaming, as only a boy can dream, of days which are yet to be. Every sense is lulled to rest, and the spirit comes forth to explore the lands beyond the hills, to conquer cities, discover poles, or scale the heights of heaven, when suddenly out of the stillness comes the plaintive cry of the Poor-will, _Poor-will - poor-will_. It is not a disturbing note, but rather the authentic voice of silence, the yearning of the bordering wilderness made vocal in appeal to the romantic spirit of youth. _Poor Will! Poor Will!_ you think upon cities, actions, achievements; think rather upon solitude, upon quietness, upon lonely devotions. Come, oh, come to the wilderness, to the mystic, silent, fateful wastes! And ever after, even tho duty call him to the city, to the stupid, stifling, roaring, (and glorious) city, the voice of the Poor-will has wrought its work within the heart of the exiled farmer boy, and he owns a reverence for the silent places, a loyalty of affection for the wilderness, which not all the forced subservience of things which creak or blare or shriek may fully efface.

The Poor-will spends the day sleeping on the ground under the shelter of a sage-bush, or close beside some lichen-covered rock, to which its intricate pattern of plumage marvelously assimilates. When startled, by day, the bird flits a few yards over the sage-tops and plumps down at haphazard. If it chances to settle in the full sunlight, it appears to be blinded and may allow a close approach; but if in the shade, one is not likely to surprise it again. Even after nightfall these fairy moth-catchers are much more terrestrial in their habits than are the Nighthawks. They alight upon the ground upon the slightest pretext and, indeed, appear most frequently to attain their object by leaping up at passing insects. They are more strictly nocturnal in habit, also, than the Night Jars, and we know of their later movements only thru the intermittent exercise of song. Heard in some starlit cañon, the passing of a Poor-will in full cry is an indescribable experience, producing feelings somewhere between pleasure and fear,—pleasure in the delightful melancholy of the notes heard in the dim distance, but something akin to terror at the near approach and thrilling climax of the portentous sounds.

Taken in the hand, one sees what a quiet, inoffensive fay the Poor-will is, all feathers and itself a mere featherweight. The silken sheen and delicate tracery of the frost-work upon the plumage it were hopeless to describe. It is as tho some fairy snowball had struck the bird full on the forehead, and from thence gone shivering with ever lessening traces all over the upperparts. Or, perhaps, to allow another fancy, the dust of the innumerable moth-millers, with which the bird is always wrestling, gets powdered over its garments. The large bristles which line the upper mandible, and which increase the catching capacity of the extensive gape by half, are seen to be really modified feathers, and not hairs, as might be supposed, for in younger specimens they are protected by little horny basal sheaths. With this equipment, and wings, our melancholy hero easily becomes the envy of mere human entomologists.

No. 157.
PACIFIC NIGHTHAWK

A. O. U. No. 420 part. Chordeiles virginianus hesperis J. Grinnell.

Synonym.—Bull-bat.

Description.—_Adult male_: Mottled, black, gray and ochraceous, and
with white in patches; above black predominates, especially on
forehead and back, mottling falling into indistinct bars on upper
tail-coverts and tail; anterior edge of wing white; the wing-quills
dusky; a large, white, transverse patch about midway on the first five
primaries, save on the outer web of the first; a large V-shaped
throat-patch white; remaining underparts distinctly and finely barred,
dusky and whitish with some faint ochraceous,—the latter found
especially on the parts adjacent to the white throat-patch; the
crissum sometimes pure white, usually barred, at greater intervals
than on breast; a white band crossing tail near tip, except on central
feathers. Bill without evident bristles, the horny part very small,
but length of gape about an inch. Tarsus very short; the middle claw
enlarged, and with a curious, horny, comb-like process on the inner
edge. _Adult female_: Similar, but without white band on tail, and
with white spots on primaries often much reduced; throat-patch tinged
with ochraceous, and suffusion of underparts by this color more
pronounced. _Immature_: More finely and heavily mottled than adults,
and with upperparts more heavily marked, or even suffused with
ochraceous-buff. Length 9.00-10.00 (228.6-254); wing 4.85 (123.2);
tail 4.32 (109.7); bill from nostril .21 (5.3).

Recognition Marks.—To appearance “Little Hawk” size—really smaller;
central white spot in long wing distinctive.

Nesting.—_Eggs_: 2, deposited on the bare ground, often among rocks,
sometimes upon a flat rock, or on the gravel roof of a tall building;
grayish white, or dull olive-buff marbled, mottled, or clouded and
speckled with various shades of olive, and brownish- or purplish-gray.
Av. size, 1.18 × .86 (30 × 21.8). _Season_: June; one brood.

General Range.—Pacific coast slope north to British Columbia.

Range in Washington.—West-side, summer resident in open situations.

Authorities.—_Chordeiles popetue_, Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX.
1858, p. 153. T. C&S. B. E.

Specimens.—Prov.

The Nighthawk arrives so tardily—never before the middle of May and from that date to the middle of June—that he reminds us of the naughty child who has disregarded the parental summons and comes upon the scene sleepy and cross at 9.30 a. m., when all good little children are at school. We are sure, too, that it must be something like the necessity of eating cold victuals that makes the bird grumble _bayard - bayard_ as it flits about discontentedly on the first morning. Moreover, there is always something incongruous about the appearance of this prairie species in the land of tall timber. He is like the man from Kansas. He has a perfect right here and he is a very good fellow. Oh, to be sure!

The Pacific Nighthawk differs by scarcely assignable characters from the typical form of the eastern United States, but it is separated from it in distribution by two bleached phases, _C. v. henryi_ and _C. v. sennetti_, of the desert and plain respectively; so we feel confident that it represents a resaturation of the intermediate stock rather than a division or colony of _C. virginianus_ proper. Bird of the plains tho it be, it is pushing its way determinedly on the West-side wherever openings offer, and is as likely to occur upon the San Juan Islands or in some little clearing of the mountain valleys as upon the ampler reaches of the Chehalis prairies. Latterly, also, it has accommodated itself to the life of the city, and from the fearless way in which it appears over Pacific Avenue in Tacoma, or Second Avenue in Seattle, we judge that it must be following the well established eastern custom of laying its eggs on the flat roofs of down-town buildings.

No. 158.
WESTERN NIGHTHAWK.

A. O. U. No. 420 a. Chordeiles virginianus henryi (Cass.).

Description.—Similar to _C. v. hesperis_, but paler thruout; areas of
black reduced, white patches of throat, wing, and tail averaging
larger; below more extensively tawny whitish.

Recognition Marks.—As in preceding.

Nesting.—_Nest_ and _Eggs_ not distinguishable from those of _C. v.
hesperis_.

General Range.—Arid Transition and Canadian life-zones of the Western
United States from the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains to the
Cascade-Sierra ranges, north into British Columbia; south in winter to
northern South America.

Range in Washington.—Common summer resident in open situations east of
the Cascade Mountains.

Migrations.—_Spring_: Moses Lake, May 13, 1906; Chelan, May 29, 1905;
Oro, May 29, 1896.

Authorities.—[“Western Nighthawk,” Johnson, Rep. Gov. W. T. 1884
(1885) 22]; Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II., 1895, p. 168.
D¹. Sr. Ra. D². Ss¹. Ss². Kk(?). J.

Specimens.—(U. of W.) P¹. Prov. E.

These Nighthawks are perfectly harmless except to moths, midges, and their ilk; and their uplifted wings half careened by the evening breeze furnish one of the most pleasing adornments of lowland meadow or sage-covered upland. The birds “quarter the air” incessantly in a bat-like flight of irregular zigzags, often pouting as they go, _bayard - bayard_. They are not so strictly nocturnal as the Poor-wills, but put a liberal construction on “twilight,” being careful to avail themselves of all cloudy days, and, in fact, moving about at will whenever the sun slants fairly. The middle hours of the day are spent upon the ground, where their neutral tints serve a protective purpose and are almost implicitly relied on. During the mating season the males take great parabolic headers in the air, returning sharply and producing a loud booming _daw-w_—whether by the rushing of air thru the wings or across the opened mouth, will, perhaps, never be determined.

During migrations scores of these birds are sometimes seen moving aloft in loose array and, customarily at this season, silent. While not at any time strictly gregarious, favorable conditions are likely to attract considerable numbers to a given spot. I have seen scores at a time winging noiselessly to and fro over the tranquil waters of Brook Lake, and once I saw a company of not less than two hundred executing a grand march with bewildering evolutions, in a Yakima pasture. The date in the last-mentioned instance was August 10th, and it is more likely that the birds had discovered some notable event in the insect world, than that they themselves were preparing to migrate.

The eggs of the Nighthawk are heavily mottled with slaty and other tints, which render them practically invisible to the searching eye, even tho they rest upon the bare ground or, as oftener, upon an exposed lava ledge. Except during the very warmest hours (when the sun’s rays might addle them) and the coolest (when they might become chilled), the sitting bird is likely to rest beside her eggs instead of on them. The young birds when hatched place great reliance upon their protective coloration, and even permit the fondling of the hand rather than confess the defect of their fancied security. The old bird, meanwhile has fluttered away over the ground with uncertain wing and drooping tail to drop at last on the very point of death. Or failing in this ruse, she is charging about in mid air with plaintive cries. Look upon the babies for the last time, for they will be spirited away before your return,—borne off, it is said, between the thighs of the parent bird.

_Micropodidæ_—The Swifts

No. 159.
BLACK SWIFT.

A. O. U. No. 422. _Cypseloides niger borealis_ (Kennerly).

Synonyms.—Cloud Swift. Northern Black Cloud Swift.

Description.—_Adults_: Sooty black; feathers of extreme chin, anterior
portion of lores, forecrown, lining of wings, abdomen, sides, crissum,
and under tail-coverts, narrowly skirted with white. Bill, feet, and
eyes black. Length about 7.00 (177.8); wing 6.50 (165.1); tail 2.09
(53).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size but appearing larger; long wings and
rapid flight, cloud-haunting habits with color and size distinctive.

Nesting.—_Nest_: in crannies of cliffs; reported by Bendire from the
breaks of the Columbia in Douglas County. _Eggs_: unknown. _Season_:
presumably June.

General Range.—Western North America from the Rocky Mountains to the
Pacific, north thru British Columbia to southwestern Alaska; partially
nomadic, erratic, and far-ranging; winters south to Central America.

Range in Washington.—Summer resident in the higher Cascades and
(presumably) the Olympics; appears sporadically at lower levels,
chiefly west of the Cascade Mountains.

Migrations.—_Spring_: Seattle, May 16, 1905. _Fall_: Seattle,
September 20, 1907; October 7, 1905; Tatoosh Island, June 4, 1907.

Authorities.—_Cypseloides borealis_, Kennerly, Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci.
Phila. IX., Nov. 1857, 202; _fide_ Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. IX.,
1858, p. 143. Rh. D¹. Ra. B. E.

Specimens.—Prov. C. E.

No other bird of equal prominence in the North American ornis has so successfully eluded the investigation of the curious. Of equal prominence, I say, for on occasion the birds do exhibit themselves at close quarters with every appearance of frankness. And it is precisely because they do occasionally stoop to our level, that we long to follow them as they sweep the clouds or hasten back at a thought to their mountain fastnesses.

Cloud Swifts hunt in great straggling companies, and when one of them has attracted attention by swooping near the ground, and the eyes are lifted, a dozen others may be noted in the neighborhood, and a hundred more in the sky, up, up to the limit of vision. Certain atmospheric conditions, especially a drizzling rain, may impel the whole company to seek the lower levels, and hundreds may be seen at once hawking over the townsite, or, better yet, over the surface of a lake, as Whatcom, or Washington. But on brighter days, and ordinarily, the passing throng occupies the whole heavens, and a bird seen darting across a distant cloud may in another instant descend to the tree-tops. Altho not quite so speedy as the White-throated Swift, there is no bird whose aerial evolutions convey such a sense of power and unfettered freedom as do those of this veritable sky-scraper.

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.

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.

“In nesting the Chimney ’Sweeps’ seek out the smaller chimneys of dwelling houses, and usually only one pair occupies a single shaft. Short twigs are seized and snapped off by the bird’s beak in midflight, and these, after being rolled about in the copious saliva, are made fast to the bricks, a neat and homogeneous bracket being thus formed. This will be sufficient to support the half dozen crystal white eggs and the hissing squabs which follow, unless a premature fire or a long-continued rain dissolves the glue and tumbles the fabric into the grate.

“Sitting birds, when discovered, oftenest drop below the nest and hide, clinging easily with the tiny feet supported by the spiny tail. The male bird seldom pays any attention unless there are young, in which case he even brushes past the intruder and enters the nest in his eagerness to share the hour of danger. The young are rather slow in development and it requires, according to Mr. Otto Widmann, two months to rear a family of them. Usually only one brood is raised, but a second nesting is undertaken even as late as August if the first has proven unsuccessful” (Birds of Ohio).

Save in the matter of nesting, the Vaux Swift does not differ essentially in habit or appearance from the well-known Chimney Swift, referred to in the preceding paragraphs. It is, however, very much less common and is only of local distribution, chiefly in the lower mountain valleys. Local attachments are doubtless largely determined by the presence of large cottonwood timber, but the birds descend to the lowlands, especially after the close of the nesting season, in small roving parties, somewhat after the fashion of the Cloud Swifts, with which indeed they frequently associate. They have thus been regularly reported by West-side observers at Tacoma, Seattle, and Bellingham, and I have seen them at Blaine, and in the valleys of the Nooksack (at Glacier), Skagit, Nisqually (in Rainier National Park), and Quillayute Rivers. The only East-side records appear to be those from the north fork of the Ahtanum, in Yakima County, and the valley of the Stehekin, in Chelan County.

Vaux’s Swift with us nests only in the hollow recesses of tall dead cottonwood trees, where they glue a shallow bracket of broken twigs, cemented with hardened saliva, to the curving inner wall. In California, however, they are said to be adopting the ways of civilization, and are beginning to nest in chimneys, after the fashion of _C. pelagica_.

No. 161.
WHITE-THROATED SWIFT.

A. O. U. No. 425. Aeronautes melanoleucus (Baird).

Synonyms.—Rock Swift. Mountain Swift. Rocky Mountain Swift.
White-throated Rock Swift.

Description.—_Adults_: Plumage black (variable, sooty brown to glossy
black); forehead and line over eye paler; lore velvety black; chin,
throat, breast, and belly, centrally, white—also outer edge of outer
primary, tips of secondaries, lateral tail-feathers, and a conspicuous
patch on flank, sometimes nearly meeting fellow across rump; bill
black. Length 7.00 (177.8) or under; wing 6.50-7.00 (165.1-177.8);
tail 2.65 (67.3).

Recognition Marks.—Sparrow size but larger to appearance; exceedingly
rapid flight with flashing white underparts and flank patches
distinctive.

Nesting.—“The nest is securely placed far in holes or crevices of
rocks or indurated earths, usually at a great height; it is a
saucer-like structure, about 5 × 2 inches, with a shallow cavity, made
of various vegetable materials well glued together with saliva, and
lined with feathers. Eggs several, in one instance 5, narrowly
subelliptical, 0.87 × 0.52, white” (Coues). _Season_: May and June.

General Range.—Western United States from the Rocky Mountains to the
Pacific, north to Montana, Idaho, and southern British Columbia
(Okanagan Valley); south in winter to Guatemala.

Range in Washington.—Known only from the valley of the Columbia near
Chelan, the Grand Coulee (near Cold Spring Lake), and the Cascade
Pass.

Authorities.—Dawson, Auk, XIV., 1897, p. 175.

Specimens.—C.

Swift, swifter, swiftest, will best express the relations of our Washington _Cypseli_, where the positive degree is represented by the Vaux Swift, the comparative by the Black Cloud Swift, and the superlative by the White-throat. No one who is troubled with acrophobia, the fear of high places, should attempt to spy upon the nesting haunts of these Swifts from above; for when to the ordinary terrors of a sheer cliff, say a thousand feet in height, is added the hurtling passage of resentful Swifts flashing about like hurled scimetars, the situation will try the strongest nerve. Viewed from below, in the open air, the evolutions of these birds may be regarded with some degree of equanimity; but when a Swift dips toward the ground, or measures its speed across the face of some frowning precipice, one sees what a really frightful velocity is attained. There is no exact way of measuring this, but an estimate of five miles per minute would be well within the mark, and six not unreasonable. The bird, that is, would require only an hour to flit from Spokane to Aberdeen; or, it might breakfast at Osooyoos on the Forty-ninth Parallel, lunch in Chihuahua, and dine, a trifle late, in Panama.

This Rock Swift nests only in crevices and caves of the most inaccessible cliffs. Most of its hunting, however, is done in the upper air, where its lighter colors soon render it indistinguishable. It appears also to be less sociable than the other species upon the hunt, so that almost the only opportunities for careful study of it are afforded near the cliffs. Here there is much amorous pursuit, and the frequent sound of thrilling notes. The characteristic notes constitute a sort of war-cry, rather than song, and consist of a liquid descending scale of musical chuckling, or rubbing tones. The noise produced is much as if two pebbles were being fiercely rubbed together in a rapidly-filling jar of water.

The birds exhibit a preternatural cunning in the selection of nesting sites. Not only do they choose sheer walls, but those which, because of the fissures so afforded, are crumbling and dangerous to a degree. The butte shown in the illustration consists of a hard lava capping over a disintegrating bed of tufa, impossible of ascent and impracticable of descent. Here in some remotest crevice the birds affix a narrow shelf, of straws, bits of weed-stalks, and miscellaneous trash, agglutinated with saliva; and in this four or five narrowly elliptical white eggs are deposited late in June or early in July.

These interesting birds are newcomers within our borders, and their comings and goings are as yet little known. Bendire in 1895 remarked[69] their utter absence from Oregon and Washington. In 1896 I saw a single bird in the gorge of the Columbia near Chelan, and upon revisiting this scene in May, 1906, found that quite a colony of them were haunting a granite wall some 800 feet in height. Late in the same season, and in each succeeding year I have found them in the vicinity of Cold Spring Butte in Douglas County; and have every reason to suppose that other such colonies exist in the Grand Couleé. In the summer of 1906 Mr. Bowles and myself observed them crossing the Cascade Pass in company with Black Swifts; while still more recently, Mr. Charles De Blois Green announces[70] that they have extended their range up the valley of the Okanogan into British Columbia.

_Picidæ_—The Woodpeckers

No. 162.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HAIRY WOODPECKER.

A. O. U. No. 393 e. Dryobates villosus monticola Anthony.

Description.—_Adult male_: Above, in general, black,—glossy, at least
on crown and cervix, dull on tail, fuscous on wings; a narrow scarlet
band across the nape; broad white superciliary and rictal stripes
separated by a black band thru eye (including lore), continuous with
nape; a black malar stripe broadening behind; white nasal tufts; a
lengthened white patch down middle of back; wing-coverts black, or
sometimes lightly spotted with white; primaries and outer secondaries
spotted with white on both webs (often very lightly on inner webs),
the spots on the outer webs confluent in bars on the closed wing; tail
black centrally, the two outer pairs of feathers white on exposed
portions, the third pair white-tipped; entire underparts clear white;
bill and feet light plumbeous. _Adult female_: Similar but without
scarlet band on hindneck. _Young birds_ have the crown chiefly red or
bronzy or, rarely, yellowish. Length of adult: 10.00-11.00
(254-279.4); wing 5.20 (132); tail 4.20 (106.7); bill 1.50 (38).

Recognition Marks.—Robin size; black-and-white pattern of head (11
alternating areas of black and white, viewed anteriorly), with size,
distinctive; lores black and underparts _clear white_, as compared
with _D. v. hyloscopus_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: A hole excavated in tree, usually in dead portion,
unlined. _Eggs:_ 4-6, white. Av. size, 1.08 × .77 (27.4 × 19.6).
_Season_: May 15-June 1; one brood.

General Range.—Rocky Mountain district of the United States from New
Mexico north to Montana, west to Utah and eastern Washington.

Range in Washington.—Mountain districts of eastern Washington,
intergrading with _D. v. harrisii_ along eastern slopes of Cascades,
especially northerly.

Authorities.—_Not previously published._ Based here on specimen taken
May 23rd, 1906, at Usk, Wash. (Ident. by Biol. Surv., Washington, D.
C.) J. (Open to question thru confessed lack of specimens).

Specimens.—B.

This form finally displaces Harris (_D. v. harrisii_, with which it intergrades on the eastern slopes of the Cascades) only in the northeastern corner of the State and in the Blue Mountains. It differs in no essential respect from the western variety in habit; but because of the more open character of the timber, is rather more in evidence thruout its range.

On the 22nd of May, 1906, a male of this species was sighted at Usk, on the banks of the Pend d’Oreille River, as he clung to the top of a forty-foot pine stub and delivered, rather gently, his rolling tattoo, or call-note. After repeating this several times he dropped down and entered a hole a few feet lower. We returned the following morning and found the male bird (distinguishable by his red nuchal patch) again on the nest. When I rapped gently on the stub he emerged; and proceeding to his drumming ground above, he rolled repeatedly. By and by the female answered in the distance with the _plimp_ or _plick_ note. Soon she arrived upon the nesting stub, whereupon Mr. Hairy took himself off promptly, and Mrs. Hairy entered the nest and settled to her eggs. Or so you would have supposed, wouldn’t you? By the aid of sixteen spikes, “60’s,” and a rope, I climbed to the nest, thirty-five feet up. With a small hand-axe I enlarged the entrance (sacrificing incidentally a thumbnail, and giving sad evidence of the sway of “mortal mind”) to find only _one_ fresh egg, fourteen inches down.

Of course it was disappointing, but the egg was a pearl, so transparent that one could see the very outlines of the imprisoned yolk.

No. 163.
CABANIS’S WOODPECKER.

A. O. U. No. 393 d. Dryobates villosus hyloscopus (Cab.).

Synonym.—Rocky Mountain Hairy Woodpecker (name now restricted to
preceding form).

Description.—Similar to _D. v. monticola_ but averaging smaller; lores
chiefly or entirely white; underparts more or less soiled whitish;
some few white spots appearing on wing-coverts and upon inner
secondaries (thus shading into eastern forms of the _D. villosus_
group).

Recognition Marks.—As in preceding.

Nesting.—As in _D. v. monticola_.

General Range.—Imperfectly made out as regards that of _D. v.
monticola_—“Western United States from the Rocky Mountains to the
Pacific, excepting the special range of _D. v. harrisii_, and
southward into Mexico” (Coues).

Range in Washington.—Undetermined; perhaps resident in eastern
Washington between ranges of _monticola_ and _harrisii_, perhaps only
casual west of Cascades.

Authorities.—Bendire, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II. 1895, p. 53.
Puyallup, Wash., Dec. 25, 1895, by Geo. G. Cantwell (Ident. by Biol.
Surv. Washington, D. C.).

Specimens.—C.

Woodpeckers of the _Dryobates_ group are not migrants, but they are inclined to experiment, and so not infrequently turn up in their neighbors’ preserves. A specimen taken at Puyallup, December 25, 1895, must be regarded as a wanderer from the North, altho Brooks characterizes this form as regular at Sumas, B. C.

No. 164.
HARRIS’S WOODPECKER.

A. O. U. No. 393c. _Dryobates villosus harrisii_ (Aud.).

Description.—Similar to _D. v. hyloscopus_, but underparts light smoky
brown or smoke-gray; sometimes narrowly streaked with black on sides;
spotting on wing-quills still further reduced, that of wing-coverts
usually wanting. Length of adult: 9.00-10.50 (228.6-266.7); wing 5.00
(127); tail 3.35 (85.1); bill 1.25 (31.8).

Recognition Marks.—Robin size; black-and-white pattern of head (with
touch of scarlet on hind-neck of male); smoky below as compared with
_D. v. monticola_ or _D. v. hyloscopus_.

Nesting.—_Nest_: a hole about 25 feet up in a dead fir tree, lined
with chips. _Eggs_: usually 4, crystalline white. Av. size, 1.05 × .74
(26.7 × 18.8).

General Range.—Pacific coast district from northern California north
to southern Alaska.

Range in Washington.—West-side, resident, chiefly at lower levels;
east slopes of Cascades, where intergrading either with _D. v.
homorus_ southerly (?) or _D. v. monticola_ northerly.

Authorities.—_Picus harrisii, Audubon_, Orn. Biog. 1839, 191; pl. 417.
Townsend, Narrative, (1839), p. 347. T. C&S. L¹. Rh. D¹. Kb. Ra. Kk.
B. E.

Specimens.—U. of W. P. Prov. B. BN.

Dr. Cooper judged the Harris to be the most abundant Woodpecker in Western Washington; and this, with the possible exception of the Flicker (_Colaptes cafer saturatior_), is still true. The bird ventures well out upon the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains, and is found sparingly in the higher mountain valleys; but his favorite resorts are burns and the edges of clearings, rather than the depths of the woods. Altho he is resident the year around we are quite likely to overlook his presence until cold weather appears to quicken his pulses, and to send him careering noisily over the tree-tops. He has spent the night, it may be, in the heart of a fir stub at the end of his winter tunnel, and now he covers a half-wooded pasture with great bounds of flight, shouting, _plick, plick_, from time to time; and he gives a loud rolling call—a dozen of these notes in swift succession—as he pulls up in the top of a dead tree to begin the day’s work.

He is an active fellow, hitching up or dropping down the tree trunk with brusque ease, and publishing his progress now and then in cheerful tones. But he knows how to be patient too. In the search for hidden worms and burrowing larvæ it seems not improbable that the Woodpecker depends largely upon the sense of hearing—that he practices auscultation, in fact. A meditative tap, tap, is followed by a pause, during which the bird apparently marks the effect of his strokes, noting the rustle of apprehension or attempted escape on the part of the hidden morsel. It is not unusual for the bird to spend a half hour tunneling for a single taste, and even then the wary game may withdraw along some tunnel of its own, even beyond the reach of the bird’s extensible tongue. But besides that which must be secured from the bowels of the wood, there is much to be gleaned from the surface and in the crannies of the bark. The winter fare is also supplemented by cornel berries and the fruit of certain hardy shrubs.

It is a fair question whether the Harris Woodpecker did not get his dingy breast thru long association with his grimy grub cupboards. The dead trees which he frequents, where not actually blackened by fire, are often stained by decaying fungic growths and clinging spores, so that the snowy shirt-front of the eastern Hairy Woodpecker would be small satisfaction to him here. Or if this grimy condition of tree-trunk be not the _terminus a quo_ the smoky front of the Woodpecker started, it is certainly the _terminus ad quem_ its color is accurately tending. And, of course, it is easy to see how these conditions are due exactly to the humidity which prevails on the Pacific Coast, and to a lesser degree thruout the Cascades. The dry dirt of the Rocky Mountain pines is by comparison clean dirt, and so _Dryobates villosus_ is able to take some decent pride in his linen as he proceeds eastward.

The Harris Woodpecker visits the winter troupes only in a patronizing way. He is far too restless and independent to be counted a constant member of any little gossip club, and, except briefly during the mating season and in the family circle, he is rarely to be seen in the company of his own kind.