WESTERN BIRDS SwaJiow 



ing their disapproval of such neglect on the part of 

 humans." 



One July a bird enthusiast watched a nest-hole of 

 these birds in the Sierra Madre Mountains, just above 

 Pasadena, California. 



GENUS RIPARIA: BANK SWALLOW. 



Bank Swallow: Riparia ripdria. 

 FAMILY— SWALLOWS. 



The Bank Swallow is the smallest of the tribe, being 

 only about five inches long. It is a soft brownish gray 

 above, and white beneath save for a dark band across 

 the chest. The tail is deeply indented, but not forked 

 as in the case of the Barn Swallow. 



These attractive birds range over the greater part of 

 the United States, breeding from near the tree limit of 

 Northern Alaska and northern Ungava south to southern 

 California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Virginia, 

 migrating through Mexico and wintering farther south. 



Both east and west they build in suitable locations 

 along streams but are not so abundant as some others 

 of the family. 



Their habit of building deep holes in banks for their 

 nests is the most interesting thing about them, and has 

 caused them to be sometimes called Sand Martins. Like 

 other Swallows they are gregarious and dig their nesting 

 holes side by side, sometimes perforating a bank with 

 them. It is hard to understand just how a bird with so 

 small and seemingly weak a bill, can dig a straight, 

 round tunnel that is often three or four feet long, enlarg- 

 ing the far end and lining it with grasses for a nest. 

 Here, again, the work of the busy bee is outclassed. 



We are told that they make this long hole with their 

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