BANK SWALLOW. 
SAND MARTIN. 
CLIVICOLA RIPARIA. 
CuHar. Above, dull grayish brown, which extends around the neck and 
across the breast; beneath, white. Length about 5 inches. 
Nest. At the end of a burrow excavated in a bank of sand or gravel, 
— usually within a few feet of the top; the bank generally near a stream 
of water; the excavation is 2 to 4 feet deep, and widens at the inner end, 
where a little dry grass and a few feathers are loosely placed, and on this 
cushion the eggs are laid.- 
Eggs. 4-6; white; 0.70 X 0.50. 
These plain-looking and smaller birds, though equally grega- 
rious with other kinds, do not court the protection or society 
of man, —at least their habitations are remote from his, They 
commonly take possession for this purpose of the sandy bank 
or bluff of a river, quarry, or gravel pit, 2 or 3 feet below the 
upper surface of the bank. In such places, in the month of 
April, they may be observed burrowing horizontally with their 
awl-like bills, when at length, having obtained a foot-hold in 
the cliff, they also use their feet and continue this labor to the 
depth of 2 or 3 feet. Many of these holes may be often seen 
within a few inches of each other. This species has gener- 
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