Note 67 — The Birds of Washington (continued 10)
Reading edition
These words are used advisedly. The case reported from the sea-wall of Santa Cruz County, California, claims
no
nest and only
one
egg. If this be not a case of misidentification, then it is an example of freak nesting utterly at variance with all Swift traditions, and with much that is actually known concerning the habits of this species.
The classic instance reported from Seattle in the columns of the Auk (Vol. V., ’88, p. 424) of a nest “made of straws, chips, paper, etc.,” proved to concern the handiwork of the Purple Martin (Progne subis), but the mistake was a not unnatural one in view of the then rarity of the Martin.