If memory serves, one of Bent's accounts of Vaux's Swifts [note potential
for interweaving of pronunication thread] is from Seattle in the early
1900s and involves swifts flying down a tall industrial chimney to nest
atop an active boiler. I've only seen two swifts fly down a chimney
here in Seattle in the late 1900s, and that was at the house next door.
But I've often wondered about those tall smokestacks at Zymogenetics, by
Gasworks Park. Has anyone seen swifts enter them? (I think we do have a
fellow tweet at Zymogenetics...) From what I've read, they seem ideal for
swift quarters. I believe that they serve no function now (other than
advertising), so I wonder if maybe they are closed off at the top. If so,
perhaps one could be opened up to see if swifts would eventually use it.

David Wright
dwright at u.washington.edu