THE BANK SWALLOW. ij 



THE CHIMNEY SWAI.LOW. 



The Chimney Swallow is on the head, neck, back, and 

 rump, of a shining black colour, with purple gloss and 

 Bometimes with a blue shade ; the throat and neck are of 

 the sanae colour; the breast and belly are finite, with a 

 dash of red. The tail is forked, and consists of twelve 

 feathers. The wings are of the same colour with the back. 

 Swallows feed upon flies, worms, and insects; and gene- 

 rally hunt their prey on the wing. 



THE BANK SWALLOW. 



This appears (says Mr. Wilson) to be the most sociable 

 with its kind, and the least intimate with man, of all our 

 Swallows; living together in large communities of some- 

 times three or four hundred. On the high sandy bank of 

 a river, quarry, or gravel-pit, at a foot or two from the sur- 

 face, they commonly scra«ch out holes for their nests, 

 running them in a horizontal direction to the depth of two 

 and sometimes three feet Several of these holes are often 

 within a few inches of each other, and extend in various 

 itrata along the front of the precipice, sometimes for eighty 

 •r one hundred yards. At the extremity of this hole, • 



