354 



NOUTII AMKHK'AN BIRDS. 



Cotyle riparia. 



A critirjil oxiiiniiiiitioii Iims iaih'<l to ivvoal any diflerenco l>etween Euro- 

 pean ami Anu'iii'an si»t'cinu'ns of this Idnl. 



Habits. The coiuniou Jiank Swallow as we know it, or Sand Martin as 



it is called in En«.;land, is nearly or 

 quite e()snioi>olitan in its distribution. 

 Found tliroui^liout Kuroi>e in the sea- 

 s(tn of reproduction, and in ])()rtions 

 of Africa in the winter months, it is 

 ei[ually eonmion throughout Xorth 

 America in the sunnner, and proh- 

 ahlv winters in Mexico and in ('en- 

 tral and South America, though it is 

 not mentioned by Sumichrast as a 

 bird of Vera Cruz. It is said to oc- 

 cur in various parts of the continent 

 of Africa, and in Europe it extends 

 its mii^rations to the extreme north- 

 ern regions. It has also been met 

 with in India and in Siberia. Mr. 

 Salvin obtained several specimens at Duenas, (Juatemala, in September, 

 1801, having ])reviously (jbserved it about the Lake of Yzabah. 



On both continents it is somewhat local in its distribution, in favorable 

 localities being (piite abundant, antl in others not known to exist. It is an 

 early s])ring visitant wlierever found, ap])earing in England by the 24tli of 

 March, and even in our high Arctic regions early in May, often in such in- 

 clement weather that it is obliged to take refuge in holes. Mr. Dall met 

 with this species in Alaska, in favj)rable situations, in innnense numbers. 

 He counted on the lace of one sand-blufl' over seven hundred nest-holes 

 made by these birds, and all of them a}>parently occupied, so that the 

 blulf presented the appearance of an immense honeycomb alive with bees. 

 He states that it takes the bird four days to excavate its nest. Ilev. F. 0. 

 Morris, on the other hand, who has closely watched their operations in Eng- 

 land, says that it recjuires a fortnight, and that the weight of sand a pair 

 of these birds removes is twenty ounces in a day. Pebbles of more than two 

 ounces in weight have been known to be taken out by -them. 



The flight of this s])ecies is rapid, but unsteady and flickering. In search- 

 ing for their food they skim low over the surface of both land and water, 

 dro])ping upon the latter, as they fly, to drink or to bathe. Their food 

 consists of the smaller kinds of winged insects, which they pursue and cap- 

 ture, dashing at them at times .^ven on the water. They usually feed their 

 voung with larger kinds than thev eat themselves. 



It has not been ol)served in (irecidand, but Uichardson found it in colonies 

 of tliousands at the mouth of Mackenzie's River, in the CSth parallel. It is 

 a very social bird, usually breeding together in large communities, and is 



