BANK SWALLOW. GOl 



enjoyed for a time, as the season advances, they begin to think 

 of the happiness of domestic life, and to prepare a receptacle for 

 the coming brood. Accordingly, they with us resort to a per- 

 pendicular bank of sand, situated on the west of the Almond, 

 and washed by a stream which issues from a sheet of water a 

 little way up the river, and there they repair their old cells, or 

 burrow new ones. It is extremely pleasant to observe the pro- 

 cess of burrowing, and it is by no means difficult to enjoy a view 

 of their operations. Taking with me a small telescope or opera- 

 glass, I seated myself at a little distance, on the opposite bank, 

 early on a warm morning in May. The Swallows, noway 

 molested by my presence, continued at intervals to excavate 

 their nests. Grasping the perpendicular surface of the bank 

 with their claws, and steadying themselves by means of their 

 tails, they commenced working by pricking a small hole with 

 their bills. This hole they gradually enlarged by moving round 

 and round, and edging off the sand with the side of their bills, 

 which they kept shut. Their progress at first was slow, but 

 after they had obtained room to stand in the excavation, they 

 proceeded very rapidly, working within with their bills, and 

 carefully pushing out the loosened sand with their feet. At one 

 time the male, at another the female, was the excavator. AVhen 

 their burrowing was impeded by the resistance of a stone or any 

 other obstruction, if unsuccessful in their efforts to remove 

 it, they left the cell and commenced digging a new one. They 

 engaged in these exercises only for a short time each morn- 

 ing, as they abandoned themselves to enjoyment throughout 

 the day. The nests were deposited at the end of the cells, the 

 depth and direction of which varied much. Some extended 

 three feet, others only a sixth of that distance ; some were hori- 

 zontal, some descended nearly perpendicularly for a little, and 

 then rose again ; while others turned in many directions. In 

 all, however, the nest was a little elevated above the entrance 

 of the cell. This provision was evidently to facilitate the egress 

 of moisture. The materials of the nest were uniformly a few 

 straws of hay, and many whitish feathers, very carelessly thrown 

 together. The number of eggs which I usually find in each of 

 the nests in this colony on an average, is six. They are small. 



