PASSERES — HIRUNDINiD/E — HIRUNDO. 39 



THE BANK SWALLOW. 



HlRUNDO RIPARIA. 

 PLATE XXVIII. FIG. 62. 



(STATE COLLECTION. Male and female.) 



The Sand Swallow. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, p. 430. 



Hirundo riparia, Bank Swallow. Wilson, Am. Orn. Vol. 5, p. 46, pi. 38, fig. 4. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. N. 



York, Vol. 2, p. 65. 

 H. id., Bank Swallow or Sand Martin. Nuttall, M;in. Omith. Vol. 1, p. 607. 

 H. id. Aodubon, folio, pi. 385 ; Ornith. Biog. Vol. 4, p. 584. 

 Sand Martin. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 333. Cotyle, Boie. 

 Bank Swallow. Aodubon, B. of A. Vol. 1, p. 187, pi. 50 (male, female and young). 

 H. riparia, Bank Swallow. Giraod, Birds of Long island, p. 37. 



Characteristics. Greyish brown above, and forming a band across the breast ; beneath 

 light colored. Tarsus naked, with a few tufts of downy hair behind. 

 Tail slightly forked. Length 5 inches. 



Description. The whole upper parts dark greyish brown, the upper surfaces of the wings 

 and tail being darker than the body : there is a broad band of the same color across the 

 breast. Exterior feather of the tail slightly edged with whitish. Lores and bill black. 

 Claws delicate, pointed and black. A slight streak of whitish occasionally over the eye. 

 Lower side of the shafts of the primaries white. Young, with the feathers slightly bordered 

 with rufous, more particularly on the wing-coverts. 



Length, 5 - 0. Alar extent, 10 - 5. 



This is one of our earliest swallows, arriving from the south in the vicinity of New-York. 

 They dig horizontal holes in high sandy bluffs, at the extremity of which they form their nest 

 of grass and feathers, and lay about five white eggs. They live on the smaller hymenopte- 

 rous insects, which they take on the wing. Their geographical range is very great. Their 

 southern limits are not yet established, but they occur in Louisiana, and have been observed 

 at the mouth of Mackenzie's river in the 68th degree of north latitude. This species is com- 

 mon to Europe and America, and is found indeed in almost every quarter of the globe, 



