. The birds of Washington : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 372 species of birds found in the state . , will best express the relations (if mir Wash-ington Cyl^scli. where the positi\e degree is represented by the Vaiix Swift,the comparative by the Black Clmid 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 inheight, is added the hurtling passage of resentful Swifts flash
. The birds of Washington : a complete, scientific and popular account of the 372 species of birds found in the state . , will best express the relations (if mir Wash-ington Cyl^scli. where the positi\e degree is represented by the Vaiix Swift,the comparative by the Black Clmid 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 inheight, is added the hurtling passage of resentful Swifts flashing about likehurled scimetars, the situation will try the strongest nerve. Mewed frombelow, in the open air, the evolutions of these birds may be regarded withsome degree of equanimity; but when a Swift dips toward the ground, ormeasures its speed across the face of .some frowning precipice, one seeswhat a really frightful velocityis attained. There is no exactwav of measiuing tliis, but anestimate of five miles per minutewould he well within the mark,and six not unreasonable. Thebird, that is. would require only. Photo by the in Douglas County. COLD SlKlM, WHITE-THROATED SWIFTS NEST ON THE PRECIPITOUS WALLS OF THE BUTTE. THE WHITE-THROATED SWIFT. 417 an hour to flit from Spokane to Aberdeen; or, it might breai<fast at Osooyooson the Forty-ninth Parallel, lunch in Chihuahua, and dine, a trifle late, inPanama. This Rock Swift nests only in crevices and caves of the most inaccessibleclififs. iNIost of its hunting, however, is done in the upper air, where itslighter colors soon render it indistinguishable. It appears also to be lesssociable than the other species upon the hunt, so that almost the only op-portunities for careful study of it are afforded near the cliffs. Here thereis much amorous pursuit, and the frequent sound of thrilling notes. Thecharacteristic notes constitute a sort of war-cry, rather tlian song, and con-sist of a liquid descending sca
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