254 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



Mr. F. M. Chapman 1 records a flock at Englewood, December 31st, 

 1882, and W. E. D. Scott 2 saw them at Squan Beach, November 16th, 

 1880. 



616 Riparia riparia (Linnaeus). 

 Bank Swallow. 



PLATE 65. 



Adults. Length, 4.75-5.50. Wing, 4. Above, plain grayish-brown, darker 

 on the head ; under surface, white, with a grayish-brown band across the breast. 



Young in first summer. Similar, but lower back, rump and breast band, and 

 inner wing feathers edged with whitish. 



Nest of grass and feathers at the end of a tunnel-like hole dug by the bird 

 in the face of a sand bank ; eggs, four to six, white, .70 x .50. 



Common local summer resident where suitable nesting sites are 

 available. Arrives April 14th (April 19th), departs September 1st. 



The Bank Swallow is a sociable bird, nesting in large communities, 

 the entrances to their nests forming row upon row of holes on the face 

 of some large sand bank, in front of which the birds fly back and forth 

 uttering their characteristic weak cries. 



From the fact that available nesting sites are not very plentiful, the 

 birds are rather local in distribution, and usually occur more fre- 

 quently along creeks and rivers which have steep perpendicular banks 

 suitable to their needs. In south Jersey they occur mainly along the 

 Delaware Valley. 



In late summer the Bank Swallow associates to some extent with 

 the other species that gather in great flocks prior to their migration 

 southward. 



They are dull brown, like the Rough-wing, but the dusky breast 

 band, contrasting with the white throat and belly, easily distinguishes 

 them. 



1 Auk, 1889, p. 303. 



2 Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1881, p. 115. 



