DUSKY, GRAY, AND SLATE-COLORED 335 



Like all swallows, these birds are eminently gregarious, 

 nesting in colonies of hundreds. The old birds come 

 back to the same nest year after year, and the young of 

 the colony make homes for themselves near by, until the 

 bank looks as if riddled by cannon balls. The nests are 

 rudely excavated tunnels about two feet long and a little 

 larger at the inner end. In this the Swallows place a 

 lining of grass and feathers. In such a nest we found 

 in one instance six small white eggs resembling those of 

 a chimney swift, but less transparent. In another, lay 

 the naked, newly hatched young, so small and pink that 

 they looked like tiny new-born mice. In another nest 

 there were, on June 2, four fully fledged young, who 

 popped out at the first disturbance. One flew into my 

 hand and died instantly from fright. 



Watch from a distance a colony of these Bank Swal- 

 lows during the morning or evening feeding-time. Every 

 little doorway is filled with eager heads on the. qui vive 

 for the coming meal. As the adult birds alight at their 

 own nest, the nestlings of the neighborhood whose sup- 

 per is belated stretch their little necks and watch the 

 feeding with mingled curiosity and longing. A step 

 overhead or a sudden shadow, as of a hawk across the 

 sun, and, as if by magic, the yellow bank presents only 

 rows of empty black holes. 



