io8 Birds of Oi'egon and WasJdngton 



THE BANK SWALLOW. 



General Description : 



Upper parts : brownish-gray, no metallic color- 

 ing. 

 Under parts : white. 

 Length, 5 inches. 

 Found around river banks, and, like other Swallows, 

 wide rovers over field and marsh. 



This is the smallest of the Swallows, and, like 

 the Cliff Swallow, it nests in colonies, choosing 

 for settlement, as a rule, sandy river banks, in 

 which with its little bill and small feet it bores 

 holes two or three feet deep — a thing seemingly 

 impossible to do with such tiny implements. 

 The holes are only far enough apart to avoid 

 coincidence, and at the end of each is the nest, 

 lined with grasses and rootlets. 



These large communities of feathered neigh- 

 bors dwell most happily together, and habitu- 

 ally leave their homes with a " giggling twitter " 

 — one of the cheeriest notes along the river 

 banks. The homes are of frequent occurrence 

 along the Willamette and elsewhere in these 

 States. 



