C. if. Merriam Birds of Connecticut. 31 



64. Cotyle riparia (Linne) Boie. Bank Swallow. 



A common summer resident, breeding in colonies in holes in 

 banks, generally near some pond or river. Arrives early in May 

 (April 21, 1877, A. J. Dayan). Williams, writing of the Swallows 

 of Vermont, in 1794, relates the following, which I transcribe for 

 what it is worth : " The usual times of the appearance and disappear- 

 ance of these birds, serve to mark the temperature of the climate, 

 with as much precision, as any of the phenomena of nature. But 

 they do not seem to be properly birds of passage. At Danby in this 

 State, the inhabitants report, that some of them were taken out of a 

 pond in that town, some years ago. A man was employed in the 

 winter, to procure the roots of the pond lily, for medicinal purposes. 

 Among the mud and roots which he threw out, several swallows were 



found enclosed in the mud ; alive, but in a torpid state It has 



been doubted by some able naturalists, whether it is possible for the 

 Swallow to live in such a situation. I saw an instance which puts 

 the possibility of the fact beyond all room for doubt. About the 

 year 1760, two men were digging in the salt marsh, at Cambridge, in 

 Massachusetts : on the bank of the Charles River, about two feet 

 below the surface of the ground, they dug up a Swallow, wholly sur- 

 rounded and covered with mud. The Swallow was in a torpid state, 

 but being held in their hands, it revived in about half an hour. The 

 place where this Swallow was dug up was every day covered with 

 the salt water, which at every high tide, was four or five feet deep. 

 The time when this Swallow was found was the latter part of the 

 month of February."* 



65. Stelgidopteryx serripennis (Audubon) Baird. Rough- winged 



Swallow. 



A rare summer visitant. " A female of this species was shot at 

 Suffield, Conn., by Mr. Shores, June 6th, 1874."f My friend, Mr. 

 Eugene P. Bicknell, informs me that he has found it in numbers at 

 Riverdale, N. Y., within a few miles of the Connecticut line, and that 

 it breeds there sometimes placing its nest " under a bridge." 



66. Progne purpurea (Linne) Boie. Purple Martin. 



A summer resident, breeding in " Martin Boxes" in villages. 

 Arrives during the middle or latter part of April (April 17, 20, 25, 



* The Natural and Civil History of Vermont. By Samuel Williams, pp. 115-16. 

 Printed at Walpole, N. H. 1*794. 



f Purdie in " Nuttall Ornith. Bulletin, vol. ii, No. 1, p. 21. Jan. 1877. 



