BANK SWALLOW. 



SAND MARTIN. 



ClIVICOL-A. RIPARIA. 



Char. Above, dull grayish brown, which extends around the neck 

 and across the breast ; throat and belly white. Length about 5 inches. 



Nest. At the end of a burrow excavated in a bank of sand or gravel, 

 — usually within a few feet of the top ; the bank generallv near a stream 

 of water ; the excavation is 2 to 4 feet deep, and widens at the inner end, 

 where a little dry grass and a few feathers are loosely placed, and on this 

 cushion the eggs are laid. 



Eggs. 4-6; white; 0.70 X 0.50. 



These plain-looking and smaller birds, though equally grega- 

 rious with other kinds, do not court the protection or society 

 of man, — at least their habitations are remote from his. They 

 commonly take possession for this purpose of the sandy bank 

 or bluif of a river, quarry, or gravel pit, 2 or 3 feet below the 

 upper surface of the bank. In such places, in the month of 

 April, they may be observed burrowing horizontally with their 

 awl-like bills, when at length, having obtained a foot-hold in 

 the cHff, they also use their feet and continue this labor to the 

 depth of 2 or 3 feet. Many of these holes may be often seen 

 within a few inches of each other. This species has gener- 

 VOL. I. — 26 



