BANK SWALLOW. 
75 
HIRUNDO RIP ARIA. 
Bank Swallow. 
Eirundo riparia Linn., Syst. Nat., 1, 1766, 344. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Size, small. Form, slender. Upper mandible, slightly arched. Feet, not small and provided with a 
tuft of feathers which grow from the heel. Tail, moderately forked. Sternum, quite similar to that of the preceding 
species, but not as stoutly built. Tongue, stout, not very triangular, horny and quite acuminate, with the tip cleft 
but not ciliated. The nestlings have fleshy, triangular tongues. 
Color. Adult. Above, band across the breast, under wing coverts and sides, slaty-brown; with the wings 
darker and tips of the feathers of back hoary. The band usually extends down in a point on the breast. 
Remaining under portions, pure white. The young are similar. 
Nestlings, with a rufous washing above, on the band of the breast, sides and white of throat, which is 
occasionally obscured by dusky. Sexes, alike. Irides, brown. Bill, black. Feet, brown in all stages. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Readily distinguished from the closely allied H. serripennis by the smaller size and white throat. The tuft of 
feathers on the heel is always present, but is frequently represented by two or three feathers; there are, however, 
many more on others, and in some young birds taken at Grand Menan, they extend with very little interruption 
along the back of the tarsus quite to the tibial joint. Bank Swallows are distributed throughout North America 
during the breeding season, wintering in Mexico and the West Indies. They are also found throughout the northern 
section of the Old World. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements of seventeen specimens.— Length, 5*25; stretch, 10-75; wing, 3-95; tail, 1-95; bill, -25; 
tarsus, -45. Longest specimen, 5-45; greatest extent of wings, 11-10; longest wing, 4-20; tail, 2-10; bill, -28; tarsus, 
•50. Shortest specimen, 5-00; smallest extent of wings, 10-10; shortest wing, 3-00; tail, 1-75; bill, -23; tarsus, -42. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Nests, placed in holes formed in banks of earth, composed of dried grass, lined with feathers. They are very 
shallow. Dimensions: external diameter, 5 inches, internal, 4; thickness, 1 inch. 
Eggs, from four to six in number, oval in form, and pure white in color. Dimensions, from -70 x -45 to -60 x -40. 
HABITS. 
Although Audubon states that the Bank Swallow is abundant in Florida during winter, yet 
I have never seen it in the state at that season. It arrives about the first of April, but I have 
not found it at all common and do not think that any ever remain to breed. These are the last 
of all the Swallows to make their appearance in New England, arriving about the middle of 
May. They then .quickly repair to some sandy bank and begin to dig burrows in which to 
place their nests. They excavate the holes with their feet, aided by their bills, and although 
these members are seemingly weak the birds manage to get on quite rapidly, often penetrating 
a bank to the depth of three or four feet in a few days. These birds are highly gregarious and 
from five hundred to a thousand pairs may be found breeding in a favorable locality. They are 
quite numerous in the interior but seem to have a predilection for the coast, and will even inhabit 
islands ; in fact I found a small colony nesting on a lonely islet, one of the Magdalen Group, 
called Shagg Rock, which stands in the midst of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, more than a hundred 
miles.from the mainland. This rock rose abruptly from the water to the height of ninety 
feet, but the top was covered with soil, portions of which overhung the water, affording the 
Swallows a fine opportunity to build. The rocky face of the cliff was inhabited by Cormorants ; 
hundreds of Terns, that were breeding on the upper surface, hovered confusedly about and filled 
the air with their harsh, continuous cries, but amid all this discord the soft twitter of the Bank 
Swallows could be heard as they flew quietly about their strangely chosen homes. 
Either this species do not mate until they begin to construct their nests or else they are 
