EGGS : 



The complement of eggs is commonly five or six, for the first set, and four or five for the second. 

 The shell is pure white, unmarked, and but moderately polished. Fifteen eggs taken as they come from 

 about one hundred specimens measure as follows: .48 x .72, .51 x .68, .48 x .72, .50 x .69, .49 x .65, .50 x .67, 

 .49 x .69, .49 x .70, .48 x .66, .51 x .68, .50 x .71, .48 x .70, .48 x .67, .50 x .69, .48 x .69. The smallest egg 

 in the collection measures .47 x .60, the largest, .50 x .72. The greatest long-diameter is .72, the least 

 long-diameter is .60. The greatest short-diameter is .51, the least short-diameter is .47. 



DIFFERENTIAL POINTS : 



See "White-bellied Swallow." 



REMARKS : 



The four eggs of the Bank Swallow figured on Plate LX., Fig. 1, show the common sizes and shapes, 

 and one exceptionally small egg. 



The Bank Swallow- is the only one of its family which has not changed to any extent the location 

 of its nest under the influence of civilization. The Rough-winged Swallow, now takes advantage of the 

 stone bridge-piers and even crevices about town buildings. The White-bellied Swallow resorts to bird- 

 boxes. The Cliff Swallow hangs its nest under the friendly eaves of houses and barns. The Barn Swal- 

 low has abandoned the caves for the sheltered rafters of barn lofts, and the Purple Martin is nearly as 

 domesticated as the House Sparrow. 



Although civilization has not changed the nesting habits of this Swallow it has undoubtedly dimin- 

 ished its numbers. At the present time the distribution of the species is irregular as well as limited to 

 localities adapted to the bird's requirements. Of the numerous banks suitable for their nests with which 

 I am familiar, I know of but two that are inhabited. These, from my earliest recollection, have afforded 

 dwelling places for the Bank Swallow, and they have nested here year after year, undisturbed except by 

 myself, until each colony now consists of hundreds of birds. The sand vein in one of these banks about 

 five miles north of Circleville, on the Scioto River, is, in the summer, literally honeycombed with the 

 burrows. The bank is about seventy feet high, and the vein of sand is about ten feet from its top. 

 The freshets, wind, and rain cave in this bank somewhat every Spring, so that the returning Swallow's 

 find fresh, clean sand for their lodgings. 



All Swallows colonize more or less during the nesting season, but this trait of character is most 

 marked in the Bank Swallow, and least developed in the Rough-winged and White-bellied Swallows. 

 Some years ago I noticed that the nests of the Bank Swallows which I was examining were infested with 

 fleas. I shot several of the birds and found them similarly inhabited. Two years ago I examined several 

 dozen nests and found that every one contained fleas. Those nests which contained the most material 

 contained also the most fleas. The number of these pests in a single nest was astonishing, and it seemed 

 impossible that the mother-bird could incubate her eggs under such circumstances. The young, if they 

 had any ideas at all, must have looked forward with something akin to joy to the day when nature 

 would release them from this bondage in "flea-land." 



220 



