OTHER NEIGHBORS IN THE TREES. 225 



THE BANK-SWALLOW. 



1. The bird which is the subject of this sketch is fa- 

 miliar to all who walk in green pastures and beside still 

 waters ; for in such haunts do the bank-swallows congre- 

 gate in merry companies, making up for their want of com- 

 panionship with man by a large sociability among them- 

 selves. Conservator of ancient ways, it is almost the only 

 swallow which has not attached itself to humanity, as soon 

 as it had an opportunity, and changed from a savage to a 

 civilized bird. Perhaps, too, it has tried it long ago, for 

 our bank-swallow is a cosmopolite, and has watched the 

 rise and fall of all the dynasties and nationalities that have 

 grouped the centuries into eras from Nineveh to San Fran- 

 cisco. 



2. They are at present inhabitants of both continents 

 nearly throughout their whole extent, in summer peopling 

 the banks of Alaskan rivers, and in winter sporting them- 

 selves in the tropical regions of Mexico and Central Amer- 

 ica. So this modest little band is entitled to our respect 

 as a traveler at least ; and to compare the habits and ap- 

 pearance of the representatives in different portions of the 

 globe becomes a most interesting study. 



3. Under the name of bank-swallow, sand-swallow, 

 sand-martin, it is found throughout the northern hemi- 

 sphere wherever the localities are favorable for building 

 their nests. In this distribution they seem to have been 

 influenced by man, though owing him no other favors than 

 the incidental help of railroad cuttings and sand-pits, 

 which have increased the sites suitable for excavating, and 

 have enabled them to spread inland. 



4. Where these and other swallows spend the winter 

 was a hotly debated question among ornithologists at the 

 beginning of the present century, some affirming that they 



