258 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 







about ten rods square, I counted over fifty. Of course, the 

 birds were in myriads, and the species constitutes the com- 

 mon Swallow of the districts in that latitude. The materials 

 used in the construction of the nest are fine grasses, hay, 

 and feathers : these are adjusted loosely in the cavity of the 

 tree, and without any form. The eggs are, most commonly, 

 five in number. Their color is a beautiful clear-white, with 

 a roseate tint before their contents are removed : they are 

 extremely thin and fragile, much more so than most of the 

 other species ; and their form is a slender oval. Of a great 

 number of specimens, collected in various localities, the 

 largest is .79 by .56 inch ; the smallest, .69 by .51 inch. 

 Two broods are generally reared in the season, and the 

 period of incubation is fourteen days. 



This species leaves New England in the fall migration 

 about the 10th of September. 



COTYLE, BOIE. 



Ootyle, BOIE, Isis (1822), 650. (Type H. riparia.) 



Bill very flat, extremely broad at the base, and gradually narrowed towards 

 the tip; nostrils prominent and rounded; tail moderate, nearly straight, or some- 

 what emarginated ; tarsi rather shorter than the middle toe, slender and scutellated ; 

 toes very slender, the claws slightly curved ; colors generally dull brown above, 

 without gloss. 



COTYLE RIPARIA. Boie. 

 ~J The Bank Swallow. 



Eirundo riparia, Linnaeus. Syst. Nat., I. (1766) 344. Wils. Am. Orn., V. 46. 

 Aud. Orn. Biog., IV. (1838) 584. 



Cotyle riparia, Boie. Isis (1822), 550. 



DESCRIPTION. 



The smallest of American swallows ; tail slightly emarginate ; outer web of first 

 primary soft, without hooks ; lower part of the tarsus with a few scattered feathers ; 

 above grayish-brown, somewhat fuliginous, with a tendency to paler margins to the 

 feathers ; beneath pure-white, with a band across the breast and sides of the body 

 like the back. 



Length, four and seventy-five one-hundredths inches; wing, four; tail two 

 inches. 



