334 NOTES ON NEW ENGLAND BIRDS 



contains about seven square inches, the body about five, 

 or whole bird nineteen. If a man were to be provided 

 with wings, etc., in proportion to his weight, they would 

 measure about 844 square feet, and one wing would 

 cover 311 feet, or be about 33 feet long by 14 wide. 

 This is to say nothing of his muscles. 



Dec. 4, 1856. I notice that the swallow-holes in the 

 bank behind Dennis's, which is partly washed away, 

 are flat-elliptical, three times or more as wide horizon- 

 tally as they are deep vertically, or about three inches 

 by one. 



Nov. 20, 1857. Some bank swallows' nests are ex- 

 posed by the caving of the bank at Clamshell. The very 

 smallest hole is about two and a half inches wide hori- 

 zontally, by barely one high. All are much wider than 

 high (vertically). One nest, with an Qg'g in it still, is 

 completely exposed. The cavity at the end is shaped 

 like a thick hoe-cake or lens, about six inches wide and 

 two plus thick, vertically. The nest is a regular but 

 shallow one made simply of stubble, about five inches 

 in diameter, and three quarters of an inch deep. 



Jan. 24, 1858. The inside of the swallow-holes there 

 appears quite firm yet and regular, with marks where 

 it was pecked or scratched by the bird, and the top is 

 mottled or blotched, almost as if made firm in spots by 

 the saliva of the bird. There is a low oven-like expan- 

 sion at the end, and a good deal of stubble for the nest. 

 I find in one an empty black cherry stone and the re- 

 mains of a cricket or two. Probably a mouse left them 

 there. 



June 23, 1858. Get an ^^^ out of a deserted bank 



