Discovery of the First Black Swift Nest

Discoveryof the FirstBlack Swift Nest John Farrand, Jr. describethe nest and eggsof the BlackSKANY Swift,COMPETENT and you'll BIRDER be toldto that this largest of North American swiftsplaces a small cup of moss and other plant material on a sheltered ledge near a waterfall, on a sea cliff. or in some other moist but inaccessible spot, and that there is a single white egg. These basic facts are common knowledge.You can find them in Ar- thur Cleveland Bent's "Life Histo- ries," in John K. Terres's Audubon SocietyEncyclopedia of North Amer- ican Birds, and in field guides, man- uals, and regionalbird books.But put- ting them on recordwas far from easy. Had you asked the same competent birder the samequestion 80 yearsago, you would have received an equally The uncommonBlack Swift, at their nest.Photograph/ T.J. Ulrich/17REO (u02/1/021). quick answer. It would have been quite different, and quite wrong. cleft and disappeared.Peering into the thrasher that bears his name, had re- The Black Swift is not a common crevice, Vrooman saw a single white ported a colony of Black Swifts nest- or widespreadbird. It was discovered egg in a small, damp depressionbe- ing on a high cliff on the upper Co- more then two centuries ago in the hind a tuft of grass.Not certain that lumbia River, not on the coast. But West Indies, but the first North Amer- the bird had finished laying, he left becausethe colony was inaccessible, ican birds were not found until the the nest undisturbed. Bendire never actually saw a nest. 1850s, when Caleb Kennerly saw a Vrooman returned the following Not only that, but a nest of the largeflock at SemiahmooBay, in the week, but there was still only one egg. Black Swift had already been de- northwestcorner of Washington Ter- So he "took the egg, and peeled off scribed. In the issue of The Auk for ritow. He collecteda singlebird and the nest, grassand all." When he pre- October, 1888, Matt H. Gormley had described it as a new race in 1857. pared the egg later, he found that in- published a description of a nest of During the next severaldecades, few cubation had already advanced sev- straws, chips, and horsehair that he reports of this swift trickled in. Little eral days. Noting that on this second had found on a warehousealong the was learned about its habits, and noth- visit the bird had been difficult to waterfront in Seattle. Gormley's nest ing concreteabout how or where it flush, as an incubatingbird usually is, had contained five eggs.not one. And nests. Gormley's nest, everyone agreed.set- he decided that the clutch, though it On June 16, 1901, all this changed. fled the matter. It was even suggested Or at least it should have changed. consistedof just one egg, was com- that what Vrooman had found was plete. That morning, Arthur George Vroo- the nest of a storm-petrel. man, of Santa Cruz, California, set When Vrooman published his find Vrooman was undeterred. He knew in the October issue of The Auk that out with a companion to collect some perfectly well what he had found. In eggsof the PelagicCormorant on the year, he discovered that no one be- 1905, this time in The Condor, he sheercliffs westof town. As this young lieved a word of his story. After all, reported that he had collected a sec- egg-collectorinched down his ladder everybodyknew that swiftslay more ond nest and egg,"the circumstances toward a cormorant's nest, a Black than one egg. And 22 years earlier, being identical with those of 1901." Swift darted suddenlyout of a narrow Charles Bendire, who discovered the To allay any lingeringdoubts he also Volume 44, Number 1 15 Arthur Vrooman as advertised,one white egg.Dawson perched on a Santa collectedthe nest and egg,which was Cruz windsweptcliff in the eleventh that Mr. Vrooman had searchof Black Swift found. eggs.Photograph/Wil- liam Leon Dawson/ Dawson described his visit in the Condor, Vol. 17 (1915). first issue of The Condor for 1915. He came straight to the point. His title was "The nesting of the Black Swift: A vindication."With photographsof Mr. Vrooman, the nest, and the egg, and full of praise for their discoverer, the paper declaredthat "this unpub- lishednaturalist, be it understood,was no upstart." Dawson noted the collected the two adults and an- produce his monumental Birds of "neatly labelled skins of Cypseloides nounced that he had them in his col- California, wrote a paper entitled niger borealis," and said of their col- lection. The ornithological commu- "The undying error," in which he dis- lector: "His mind is well stored with nity remained unmoved. posedof Gormley's nest once and for incidentand exampleof bird-lore,and Arthur Vrooman must have been a all. Although Dawson cited no fewer his enthusiasmin things out-of-doors very patient man. As the yearspassed, than seven authors in addition to is socontagious that he makesan ideal he carefully collectedmore nestsand Gormley, he made no mention of field companion." At long last "this more eggs. The nests were hard to Vrooman and his two articles. Daw- genial naturalist" receivedthe recog- find, and once found, were hard to son's "The undying error" convinced nition that was due him. reach. He often tied a tin can to a everyonethat Gormley had been mis- Today, the Black Swift is known to string and let it rattle down the face taken, but no one other than Vroo- breed along the California coast in of a cliff to flush an incubatingswift. man claimed to have found a nest of San Mateo, Santa Cruz, and Monte- Sometimes he had to use a dip net the Black Swift. All but forgotten, rey counties, as well as in scattered attached to a long pole to scoop an Vrooman never doubted that he had colonieson cliffs in the interior, where eggout of its crevice. In some years found it. The real error had not yet a nest was finally found in Alberta in his search went unrewarded, and he died. 1919. Becauseof the height of the never took more than one eggin any But in that sameyear justice finally cliffs, few nests have been seen, but year. prevailed. In March, 1914, John E. the breeding range of the speciesis Thayer, the noted Massachusettsor- As Vrooman continued his search- understood to extend from southeast- nithologistand namesakeof Thayer's ing, he saw his discoveryignored by ern Alaska to Costa Rica and the West Gull, announcedthat he had obtained Indies. leadingornithologists of the day. Flor- seven Black Swift eggs from Vroo- enceMerriam Bailey,in the 1904 edi- Egg-collecting--or "oology," as it man. In the now-defunctjournal The was once grandly call•--has quite tion of her Handbookof Birds of the Oologist, Thayer stated: "Mr. Vroo- Western United States. described the properly fallen from favor. It is now man was the first to discoverthe eggs nestof the Black Swift in the following illegal without permits,which are dif- of this species."After Thayer's death terms: "On cliffs or about buildings. ficult to obtain. But in the early years in 1933 six of theseeggs, including the of American ornithology, egg-collec- One describedby M. H. Gormley, on first one Vrooman had collected, the cornice of a building, made of tors played an important role in doc- passedto Harvard University. There, straw,chips, and horsehair,lined with umenting the nesting habits of little- in the Museum of Comparative Zo- known birds, and in procuring the greengrass and paper.Eggs: 5, white." ology,they resideto this day. So does No matter that Charles Bendire and specimensthat form the core of to- the original nest, its tuft of grassstill day'smuseum collectionsand provide evenGormley himselfhad alreadyde- intact after almost 90 years. cidedthat the Seattlenest had actually a tangible basis for what we know But true vindication came from about nestsand eggs.The seriousool- been built by a Purple Martin; Ben- none other than William Leon Daw- dire publishedthis correctionin 1895. ogistof long ago made a contribution son. On June 22, 1914, after reading Gormley kept quiet. as valuable as that of any field natu- what Thayer had to say, Dawson fi- ralist. There wereother indignities.Joseph nally made the journey from Santa William Leon Dawson was express- Grinnell quietly omitted Vrooman's Barbara to Santa Cruz and accom- ing more than just the enthusiasmof articlesfrom his Bibliographyof Cal- panied Mr. Vrooman along the wind- a fellow collector when he harked ifornia Ornithology,which appeared sweptriffs he had searchedin solitude in 1909. In Part 5 of "Birds of North back to the morning of June 16, 1901. for so many years. After a lengthy "To A. G. Vrooman of Santa Cruz and Middle America," Robert Ridg- search,Vrooman's rattlingtin can dis- belongs the exclusive and distin- way followedGormley in his descrip- lodged a nesting swift, and after dan- guishedhonor of bringingthis rare egg tion of the nest of the Black Swift. gtingfrom his ladder for over an hour, to box; and my hat, for one, is off to That was in 1911. he found the nest. Dawson quickly him for a pretty pieceof work." ß In 1914, William Leon Dawson, a descendedpartway down the 65-foot prominent California ornithologist riff, surf thundering at its base, and --506 East 82nd Street, New York, and egg-collector,who was soon to photographedthe nest. It contained, NY 10028 16 American Birds, Spring 1990 .

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