Part 42

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.