SWARTH, Harry Schelwald
SWARTH, Harry Schelwald (1878-1935), born in Chicago, Illinois on January 26, 1878. Even as a young man growing up in Chicago, Swarth had an early interest in birds. He moved to Los Angeles in 1891, where he collected birds in southern California through 1916.
Swarth collected on:
- Anacapa Island (1899)
- San Nicolas Island (1932)
- Santa Barbara Island (1899)
- Isla Guadalupe (1932)
His diary from his 1899 trip is at California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. From 1905-1908 Swarth was serving as an assistant in the Field Museum, Chicago, when Grinnell asked him to join the MVZ staff as Assistant Curator of birds. From 1910-1912 he was curator of birds in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology; and again in 1915-1927. In 1913-1915 he served as assistant director of the Museum of History, Science and Art, Los Angeles. In 1927 Swarth was appointed curator of the department of ornithology and mammalogy at the California Academy of Sciences. Swarth joined Templeton Crocker on his 1932 expedition to the Galapagos Islands. Enroute to pick up Swarth in San Diego aboard Zaca, Crocker stopped at San Nicolas Island on March 12, 1932 and collected a number of birds for Swarth to prepare later. These specimens are at California Academy of Sciences.
During his career, Swarth worked at the Field Columbian Museum in Chicago (1904-1908), the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley (1908-1913), the Museum of History, Science and Art in Los Angeles (1913-1916), and the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley (1916-1927). In 1927 Swarth was made curator of ornithology at California Academy of Sciences. During his career he was a frequent collaborator with Joseph Grinnell.
In 1910 Swarth married Grinnell’s sister-in-law, the younger sister of Grinnell’s wife Hilda. Swarth also served for eighteen years as associate editor of the Condor. Swarth died on October 22, 1935 in Berkeley. Loye Holmes Miller named the extinct Pleistocene falcon, Falco swarthi, in his honor. Swarth correspondence (1909-1923) is in the files of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley.
Palmer, T. S. Nomenclature of California Birds in Condor 30(5):267-268 September-October 1928:
- SWARTH, Harry Schelwald. “Born in Chicago, Illinois, January 26, 1878. An active and enthusiastic ornithologist who has carried on extensive work on the Pacific Coast, especially in Alaska, Arizona, British Columbia and various parts of California, and for the last 18 years has filled the position of associate editor of the Condor. He served as an assistant in the Field Museum of Chicago, from 1905 to 1908; curator of birds in the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Berkeley, 1908-12 and 1915-27; assistant director of the Museum of History, Science and Art, Los Angeles, 1913-15; and in 1927 was appointed curator of the department of ornithology and mammalogy in the California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco. Among his more important publications are the Birds of Arizona, 1914, several papers on the mammals and birds of British Columbia, and his revision of the Western Foz Sparrows of the genus Passerella, 1920. In recognition of his work, Prof. Loye Holmes Miller has named in his honor an extinct Falcon, Falco swarthi, from the Pleistocene asphalt of McKittrick, California.”
» Swarth, H. S. Black Oystercatcher on Anacapa Islands in Condor. Bulletin Cooper Ornith. Club 1(5):85, 1899
» Swarth, H. S. A Study of the Status of Certain Island Forms of the Genus Salpinctes in Condor 16(5):211-217 September 1914
» Swarth, H. S. The Pacific Coast Jays of the Genus Aphelecoma in Univ. Calif. Publ. in Zool., 17(13):405-422, 1918
Island Collections~
| ISLAND | COLLECTOR | INSTITUTION | DATE | NUMBER | SPECIMEN | |
| Anacapa Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 4, 1899 | CAS-34817 | Haematopus bachmani | Birds |
| Anacapa Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 4, 1899 | CAS-34819 | Haematopus bachmani | Birds |
| Anacapa Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 4, 1899 | CAS-39019 | Haematopus bachmani | Birds |
San Nicolas Island
3/12/1932 CAS birds [T. Crocker; prepared by H. S. Swarth]
| ISLAND | COLLECTOR | INSTITUTION | DATE | NUMBER | SPECIMEN | |
| San Nicolas Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | May 12, 1932 | CAS-38121 | Carpodacus mexicanus clementis | Birds |
| San Nicolas Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | May 12, 1932 | CAS-38122 | Carpodacus mexicanus clementis | Birds |
| San Nicolas Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | May 12, 1932 | CAS-38123 | Carpodacus mexicanus clementis | Birds |
| San Nicolas Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | May 12, 1932 | CAS-38124 | Carpodacus mexicanus clementis | Birds |
| San Nicolas Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | May 12, 1932 | CAS-38137 | Salpinctes obsoletus obsoletus | Birds |
| San Nicolas Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | May 12, 1932 | CAS-38138 | Salpinctes obsoletus obsoletus | Birds |
| San Nicolas Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | May 12, 1932 | CAS-38152 | Eremnophila alpestris insularis | Birds |
| ISLAND | COLLECTOR | INSTITUTION | DATE | NUMBER | SPECIMEN | |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-34674 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-34675 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-34676 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-34677 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-34678 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-34679 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-38780 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-38781 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-38782 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-38783 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-38784 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-38785 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-38786 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 8, 1889 | CAS-38787 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | MCZ | June 8, 1889 | MCZ-104390 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | WFVZ | June 8, 1889 | WFVZ-39343 | Larus occidentalis | Eggs |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 9, 1889 | CAS-38788 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 9, 1889 | CAS-34689 | Ptychoramphus aleuticus aleuticus | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 9, 1889 | CAS-38791 | Cepphus columba columba | Birds |
| Santa Barbara Island | H. S. Swarth | CAS | June 9, 1889 | CAS-38792 | Cepphus columba columba | Birds |
In the News~
June 1, 1899 [H. S. Swarth diary]: “… In the evening Lee Chambers and Frank Haines left us, and walked back to Santa Monica, 24 miles, as they could not stay away any longer.
