142 BANK SWALLOW, OR SAND MARTIN. 



On the high sandy bank of a river, quarry, or gravel pit, at a 

 foot or two from the surface, they commonly scratch out holes 

 for their nests, running them in a horizontal direction to the 

 depth of two and sometimes three feet. Several of these holes 

 are often within a few inches of each other, and extend in 

 various strata along the front of the precipice, sometimes for 

 eighty or one hundred yards. At the extremity of this 

 hole, a little fine dry grass, with a few large downy feathers, 

 form the bed on which their eggs, generally five in number, 

 and pure white, are deposited. The young are hatched late 

 in May ; and here I have taken notice of the common crow, 

 in parties of four or five, watching at the entrance of these 

 holes, to seize the first straggling young that should make its 

 appearance. From the clouds of swallows that usually play 

 round these breeding places, they remind one at a distance 

 of a swarm of bees. 



The bank swallow arrives here earlier than either of the 

 preceding ; begins to build in April, and has commonly two 

 broods in the season. Their voice is a low mutter. They 

 are particularly fond of the shores of rivers, and, in several 

 places along the Ohio, they congregate in immense multitudes- 

 We have sometimes several days of cold rain and severe 

 weather after their arrival in spring, from which they take 

 refuge in their holes, clustering together for warmth, and 

 have been frequently found at such times in almost a lifeless 

 state with the cold ; which circumstance has contributed to 

 the belief that they lie torpid all winter in these recesses. I 

 have searched hundreds of these holes in the months of 

 December and January, but never found a single swallow, 

 dead, living, or torpid. I met with this bird in considerable 

 numbers on the shores of the Kentucky river, between 

 Lexington and Danville. They likewise visit the seashore 

 in great numbers previous to their departure, which continues 

 from the last of September to the middle of October. 



The bank swallow is five inches long, and ten inches in 

 extent ; upper parts mouse coloured, lower white, with a 



