BANK SWALLOW 401 



insectivorous and most of the insects are -svinged types that are cap- 

 tured during the course of their flying. All the species share these 

 qualities, which serve as a strong bond of comradeship among the 

 members of the family. Especially is this true during autumn, when 

 the individuals flock together at the conmion roosting places and 

 later share with each other the vicissitudes of the long migration. 



The bank swallow is distinguished from the other swallows by 

 its unique habit of nesting in burrows, which it cleverly excavates 

 well into the vertical sides of a bank of clay, sand, or gravel. This 

 characteristic habit has given origin to both its scientific and series 

 of common names. The scientific name Riparia (Latin nparia, ri- 

 parian; ripa, bank of stream) refers to its living in a bank of a 

 stream. Likewise the common names are obviously suggestive of 

 this mode of life. The name bank swallow is the one generally 

 accepted in this country, but others, such as sand swallow, ground 

 swallow, bank martin, and sand martin, also suggest the characteristic 

 nesting habit of this swallow. 



The 1931 A. O. U. Check-list does not recognize a subspecific 

 difference between the American bank swallow and the bank swallow 

 of Europe. Oberholser (1938), however, points out that "the Ameri- 

 can bank swallow differs from the European Bank Swallow, Ri- 

 paria riparia ripariu, in shorter wing, relatively larger feet and 

 bill, darker and more sooty (less rufescent) brown upperparts. 

 * * * It was long ago distinguished from the European bird 

 by Leonhard Stejneger, but his diagnosis has subsequently been 

 overlooked or ignored, although the American bird is, however, 

 readily separable as above indicated. Stejneger named the 'Ameri- 

 can variety' of bank swallow CUvicola riparia maximiliani ; and his 

 type, subsequently designated, is an adult male. No. 8325 of the 

 United States National Museum collection, taken at Ipswich, Mass., 

 May 20, 1870, by C. J. Maynard." Oberholser, therefore, proposes 

 the name Riparia riparia maximiliani (Stejneger) for Ripana ri- 

 paria riparia of the 1931 A, O. U. Check-list. Whether or not the 

 proposal to differentiate, subspecifically, the American and European 

 representatives of the bank swallow is accepted by the A. O. U. Com- 

 mitte on Nomenclature, it seems advisable to limit the present ac- 

 count to the bank swallow in America. Wetmore (1939) does not 

 agree with Oberholser that there is a line of demarcation between 

 the American and European birds. 



Courtship. — The activities of courtship begin after the birds have 

 arrived at their nesting sites in the spring. At such times, Stoner 

 (1936b) saya that "several individuals congregate in a particular 

 part of a sand pit or on a given section of a creek bank, with much 

 chattering and fluttering and occasional mating." More rarely one 



