THE BANK SWALLOW. 
47 
THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 
The Chimney Swallow is on the head ; neck, back, and 
rump, of a shining black colour, with purple gloss and 
sometimes with a blue shade ; the throat and neck are of 
the same colour; the breast and belly are white, with a 
dash of red. The tail is forked, and consists of twelve 
feathers. The wings are of the same colour with the back. 
Swallows feed upon flies, worms, and insects; and gene- 
rally hunt their prey on the wing. 
THE BANK SWALLOW. 
This appears (says Mr. Wilson) to be the most sociable 
with its kind, and the least intimate with man, of all our 
Swallows; living together in large communities of some- 
times three or four hundred. On the high sandy bank of 
a river, quarry, or gravel-pit, at a foot or two from the sur- 
face, 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 
