BANK SWALLOW. 591 
the tip, which is acute, the edges inflected. Nostrils basal, lateral, 
oblong. 
Head of ordinary size, roundish, depressed ; neck short ; body 
slender. Feet very small ; tarsus very short, anteriorly scutellate, mo- 
derately compressed, with a tuft of feathers behind at the lower part ; 
toes free, small, the lateral equal, the first much stronger ; claws long, 
slightly arched, much compressed, very acute. 
Plumage soft and blended, without lustre. Wings very long, ex- 
tending a little beyond the tail, very narrow, slightly falciform ; the 
primaries tapering to an obtuse point, the first quill longest, the second 
half a twelfth shorter, the third four and a quarter twelfths shorter than 
the second, the rest rapidly graduated ; six of the secondaries distinct- 
ly emarginate. Tail rather long, deeply emarginate, the feathers 
tapering to an obtuse point. 
Bill brownish-black. Iris hazel. Feet flesh-coloured, claws dusky. 
The upper parts are greyish-brown, or mouse colour, the head and 
wing-coverts darker, as are the primary coverts, primary quills, and 
outer secondaries, of which the shafts are dusky above, white beneath. 
The lower parts are white ; the cheeks, a broad band across the lower 
part of the neck and fore part of the breast, and the sides under the 
wings, greyish-brown. The tail-feathers are very narrowly edged with 
a lighter tint, the outer with whitish. 
Length to end of tail 5 inches, to end of wings 52, to end of claws 
43; extent of wings 11; bill along the ridge 7%, along the edge of 
lower mandible $4 ; wing from flexure 43% ; tail to the fork 143; to the 
end 244; tarsus 72; hind toe 74; its claw 7%; middle toe ,%, its 
claw 3. 
Adult Female. Plate CCCLXXXV. Fig. 2. 
The Female cannot be distinguished from the male by any difference 
in her external appearance. 
Length to end of tail’ 44 inches, to end of wings 53, to end of 
claws 4. 
Young. Plate CCCLXXXV. Fig. 3. 
The young when fully fledged, have the bill dusky, with the edges 
yellow, the feet flesh-coloured, the claws yellowish. The colour of 
the upper parts is darker, but the feathers are margined with light 
