DUSKY, GRAY, AND SLATE-COLORED 335 
Like all swallows, these birds are eminently gregarious, 
nesting in colonies of hundreds. The old birds. come 
back to the same nest year after year, and the young of 
the colony make homes for themselves near by, until the 
bank looks as if riddled by cannon balls. The nests are 
rudely excavated tunnels about two feet long and a little 
larger at the inner end. In this the Swallows place a 
lining of grass and feathers. In such a nest we found 
in one instance six small white eggs resembling those of 
a chimney swift, but less transparent. In another, lay 
the naked, newly hatched young, so small and pink that 
they looked like tiny new-born mice. In another nest 
there were, on June 2, four fully fledged young, who 
popped out at the first disturbance. One flew into my 
hand and died instantly from fright. 
Watch from a distance a colony of these Bank Swal- 
lows during the morning or evening feeding-time. Every 
little doorway is filled with eager heads on the qui vive 
for the coming meal. As the adult birds alight at their 
own nest, the nestlings of the neighborhood whose sup- 
per is belated stretch their little necks and watch the 
feeding with mingled curiosity and longing.  <A_ step 
overhead or a sudden shadow, as of a hawk across the 
sun, and, as if by magic, the yellow bank presents only 
rows of empty black holes. 
