C. If. Merrldvi — JiinJs of ComiertlcKt. 31 



64. Cotyle riparia (I.inm'-) Boic. Bank Swallow. 



A common summer resident, breeding in eolonii-s in Ik.Ics in 

 banks, generally near some ])()nd or river. Arrives early in M.i\ 

 (April 21, 1877, A, J. Dayan). Williams, writing of the Swallows 

 of Vei'mont, in 1794, relates tlie following, wliicli I transcribe for 

 what it is worth: "Tlu' iisnal times of the appeai-anee and disappear- 

 ance of these birds, serve to mark the temperature of the climate, 

 with as much precision, as any of the phenomena of nature. l»ut 

 they do not seem to be propei'ly birds of passage. At I><iiilii/ in this 

 State, the inhabitants report, that some of them were taken out of a 

 pond in that town, some years ago. A man was em|)loyed in the 

 winter, to procure the roots of tlic pond lily, for medicinal purposes. 

 Among the mud and roots which he threw out, several swallows were 



found enclosed in the mud ; alive, but in a torpid state It has 



been doubted by some able naturalists, whether it is possible for the 

 Swallow to live in such a situation. I saw an instance which puts 

 the possibility of the fiict beyond all room for doubt. About the 

 year 1760, two men w^ere digging in the salt marsh, at Cambridge, in 

 Massachixsetts : on the bank of the Charles River, about two feet 

 below the surface of the ground, they dug i;p a Swallow, wholly sur- 

 rounded and covered with mud. The Swallow was in a torpid state, 

 but being held in their hands, it revived in about half an hour. The 

 place whei'e this Swallow was dug up was every day covered with 

 the salt water, which at every high tide, was four or five feet deep. 

 The time when this Swallow was found was the latter j)art of the 

 month of February,"* 



Q5. Stelgidopteryx serripenniS (Audubon) Baird. Roufrh-winged 



Swallow. 



A rare summer visitant. " A female of this species was shot at 

 Suffield, Conn., by Mr. Shores, June 6th, 1874."t ^^y friend, Mr. 

 Eugene P. Bicknell, informs me that he has found it in numl)ers at 

 Riverdale, N, Y,, within a few miles of the Connecticut line, and that 

 it breeds there — sometimes placing its nest " under a bridge." 



66. PrOgne purpurea (Linne) Boio. Purple Martin. 



A summer resident, breeding in " JNIartin IJoxes" in villages. 

 Arrives during the middle or latter part of April (April 17, 20, 25, 



* The Natural and Civil History of Vermont. By SamuenVilliams. ].p. lin-lO. 

 Printed at Walpole, N. IT. 1 794. 



f Purdie in " Nuttall Ornilli. Bulletin, vol. ii. No. 1, p. 21. Jan. 1S77. 



