ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW. 83 



holes may be seen in the Potomac banks below the 

 city, and at Bay Ridge. 



The Bank Swallow is famous for having a greater 

 range than any other land bird, and is found over the 

 entire temperate portion of the world. 



Rough- winged Swallow: Stelgidoptcryx sernpennis. 



Length 5^4 inches. 

 Upper parts brownish-gray. 

 Throat and breast paler gray, belly white. 

 The outer wing-feather has a rough edge. 

 Resident (common) from April 7 to September ; winters 

 'in the tropics. 



The Rough-winged is much like the Bank Swallow 

 in general appearance, but without the dark band 

 across the breast. He nests in holes in sand-banks, 

 although not in colonies like the Bank Swallow, and 

 he does not excavate for himself, but takes a ready- 

 made burrow, sometimes the abandoned hole of a 

 Kingfisher. Most frequently, however, he builds in 

 cavities in masonry, and all along the canal above 

 Georgetown nests may be found in crevices of the 

 canal walls; also about Aqueduct Bridge and at Glen 

 Echo. 



These nests are usually composed of bits of dead 

 leaves, but Dr. Coues says that the birds take any 

 material that is at hand, and tells of a nest near a 

 poultry yard which was entirely of feathers. The 

 eggs, 4 to 5, are pure white. 



