148 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



in the same box, and thus show the social spirit of their family. 

 They often skim over fields, ponds, or rivers, with an exquisite 

 grace, but at other times mount to a great height so far as to 

 be wellnigh lost to ,sight. They are less peaceable than the 

 Barn Swallows, and often quarrel in the air at the period of 

 mating ; but this species is justly regarded, among all our 

 birds, as one of man's most pleasing companions. 



The White-bellied Swallows are fond of wandering, more so 

 than their relatives, and often may be seen two or three miles 

 from their homes, now flying across the valleys, now dashing 

 above the hills, and now gliding over the water, as if actually 

 on its surface. Embodiments of grace, activity, and power, 

 they sweep through the air, and show us by their ever varied 

 flight how many things have been created to give us pleasure 

 from variety alone, as well as from intrinsic beauty. 



(d). Their notes are rather more eccentric and guttural than 

 those which I have already mentioned, but are equally full of 

 animation. 



IV. COTYLE 



(A) RIPARIA. Bank Swallow. Sand Martin. 



(Locally common throughout New England.) 



(a). About five inches long. Upper parts, and a band 

 across the breast, dull brown. Under parts, white. 



(6). The nest is constructed of a few loose materials, and is 

 placed at the bottom of burrows dug out by the birds. These 

 excavations are from fifteen to twenty-four inches deep, and are 

 made in sand-banks, usually those on the sea-shore or near 

 other bodies of water, but sometimes those on the roadsides 

 or in other situations. The eggs average *68 X "50 of an inch, 

 and are white ; being almost exactly like those of the White- 

 bellied Swallow, though smaller. Two sets of four or five are 

 generally laid in the course of the season, of which the first 

 appears here in the latter part of May. 



(c). The Bank Swallows are in New England the most 

 plainly colored of their family, and the only ones who retain 

 here their former habits of nesting. They migrate at the same 



