354 



NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



CotyU n'paria. 



A critical examination has failed to reveal any difference between Euro- 

 pean and American specimens of this bird. 



Habits. The common Bank Swallow a-s we know it, or Sand ]\Iartin as 



it is called in England, is nearly or 

 (juite cosmopolitan in its distribution. 

 Found tliroughout Euroi)e in the sea- 

 son of reproduction, and in portions 

 of Africa in the winter months, it is 

 eipially common tln-oughout Xortli 

 America in the summer, and prob- 

 ably winters in ile.xico and in Cen- 

 tral and South America, though it is 

 not mentioned by Sumichrast as a 

 bird of Vera Cruz. It is said to oc- 

 cur in various parts of the continent 

 of Africa, and in Europe it extends 

 its migrations to the extreme north- 

 ern regions. It has also been met 

 with in India and in Siberia. Mr. 

 Sahdn obtained several specimens at Duenas, Guatemala, in September, 

 1861, having previously observed it about tlie Lake of Yzabah. 



On botli continents it is .somewhat local in its distribution, in favorable 

 localities being quite abundant, and in others not known to exist. It is an 

 early spring visitant wherever found, appearing in England by tlie 24th of 

 Marcli, and ev(m in our high Arctic regions early in iMay, often in sucli in- 

 clement weather that it is obliged to take tefuge in holes. ]\Ir. Dall met 

 with this species in Alaska, in favoralde situations, in immense numbers. 

 He counted on the face of one sand-bluff over seven hundred nest-lioles 

 made by these birds, and aU of them apparently occupied, so tliat tlie 

 bluff presented the appearance of an immense honeycomb alive with bees. 

 He states that it takes the bird four days to excavate its nest. Rev. F. 0. 

 Moms, on the other hand, who lias closely watched their operations in Eng- 

 land, says that it requires a fortnight, and that the weight of sand a pair 

 of these birds removes is twenty ounces in a day. Pebbles of more than two 

 ounces in weiglit liave been known to be taken out by them. 



The flight of this species is rapid, but unsteady and flickering. In search- 

 ing for their food they skim low over the surface of both land and water, 

 dropping upon the latter, as they fly, to drink or to bathe. Their food 

 consists of the smaller kinds of winged insects, which they pursue and cap- 

 ture, dasliing at them at times even on the water. They usually feed their 

 young with larger kinds than they eat themselves. 



It has not been observed in Greenland, but Eichardson found it in colonies 

 of thousands at the mouth of Mackenzie's Eiver, in the GSth iiarallel. It is 

 a very social bird, usuallj' breeding togetlier in large communities, and is 



