ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW. JIL 
A suitable site for nesting may be occupied bya colony of.from twenty 
to fifty pairs of these birds. The holes are usually dug quite near the 
level of the ground, on the perpendicular face of a bank. They are ex- 
cavated by the birds, and extend to the depth of from two to four feet. 
The termination of the excavation is usually somewhat enlarged, and 
the floor thinly covered with straw and feathers, on which the eggs are 
deposited. These are five in number, pure white, measuring .72 by .47. 
GENUS STELGIDOPTERYX. Baird. 
Bill rather small; nostrils oval, superior, margined behind but scarcely laterally by 
membrane, but not at all overhung; the axes of the outline converging. Frontal 
feathers soft, and, like chin, without bristles. Tarsus equal to middle toe without claw; 
the upper end covered with feathers ail round, none at lower end. Basal joint of middle 
toe adherent externally nearly to end; internally scarcely half. Lateral toes about 
equal, their claws not reaching beyond base of middle claw. Tail slightly emarginate ; 
the feathers broad and obliquely rounded at end. Edge of wing rough to the touch ; 
the shafts of the fibrille of the outer web of the outer primary prolonged and bent at 
right-angles into a short, stiff hook. 
STELGIDOPTERYX SERRIPENNIS (Aud.) Bd. 
TIRough=winged $wallow. 
Cotyle serripennis, KIRKPATRICK, Ohio Farmer, ‘viii, 1859, 290.—WuHEATON, Ohio Agrice 
Rep. for 1860, 1861, 374; Reprint, 6, 16. . 
Stelgidopterix (error) serripennis, WHEATON, Food of Birds, ete., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 
1875, 565; Reprint, o. 
Stelgidopteryx serripennis, LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, 7; Revised List, Journ, 
Cin. Soc. Nat. Hist., i, 1079, 173; Reprint, 7. 
Hirundo serripennis, AUDUBON, Orn. Biog., iv, 1838, 593. 
Cotyle serripennis, BOK, Isis, 1844, 170. 
Stelgidopteryx serripennis, BAIRD, Rev. Am. Birds, 1864, 314. 
Lustreless brownish-gray, paler below, whitening on the belly. Rather larger than 
the last. Hooklets on outer web of outer primary wanting, or much weaker in the fe- 
male. 
Habitat, United States, from Atlantic to Pacific, and probably adjoining British Pro- 
vinces. British Columbia. Rare or wanting in Nertheastern States; south to Guate- 
mala, 
Abundant summer resident. Breeds. Arrives about the middle of 
April and remains until September. 
Next to the Barn Swallow, this appears to be our most abundant 
species. It is generally confounded with the Bank Swallow, which it 
resembles, and with which it frequently associates, sometimes breeding 
in the same location. A little care will soon enable one to distinguish 
between the species at a considerable distance. The Rough-winged 
