water In ri ‘l - J Hko ,o build iu boles iu masonry, near
mked in" r ' , T they
tev.n. al T “ ^ *“ ="“ ■ ‘>''''' -p pe -ed necessary, and
r i ' t e tm r T,' “ , holes, on the contrary, ' bein,-
T t I T id tlie free passage" o1f tfhe T b .’r ds-too small to admit the hand, while the Kt l„-rue«qh-uwiri„eod,’
nests may usually be readied without difflculty, except when built i.i masourv, iu wliid,
n ov d L T , « “'■'«'Sh a crevice barely wide enough to aiinit them
pim .dmg the cavity withm he suitable for a nest. The nests of N. serripennis are moré
uuelossly eonstructcd, as a rule, than those of C. riparia are ; the birds do not seem to
search at any distance for particular materials, being satisfied witli anytbing that may
be at hand. One nest, built in a Kingfisher’s hole in a sanii bank about iifteeu rods from
a poultry-yard, was composed entirely of the feathers of domestic fowl. In another
ms ance, three fresh eggs were found on the bare sand, in a mere pocket barely six
inclios deep, mdlcatmg tbat the mother bird was so pressed to lay that she had no time
to complete her nest. Not infrequently fresh eggs are found in the same nest with
others far advanced in inouhation, and oeeasionally fresli eggs, others newly Imtehed
and young bivds may be found together.
‘ Other writers witiic.ss a still wider range of variation in tlie nidi.iication of the
Eough-wmgs Cooper speaks of their nesting iu California in burrows iu sandy banks,
two or three feet deep, closely crowded together, aud near tlie upper edge of tho embank-
ment ; as well as of their resorting sometimes to natural clefts in banks, in adobe
buildings, and even iu knot-holes. Their breeding in tbe last-named places is probably
except,oiial, but it is known that even the Bank-Swallow, the most inveterate and
conservative of the family, will sometimes take to a tree, and Henshaw furnishes probable
eonhrmatioi, of Cooper’s statement. He noticed Eougb-wings several times in susiiicious
proximity to some dead stubs; aud though he never saw one entering the cavities, he
thought It probable that the birds sometimes availed themselves of suoh retroats iu tho
abseuce of banks suitable for excavation.
“ The general presence and behaviour of our Swallows is so little varied, as well as
so familiar, that nothing need be said on tliis score ; the Bough-wing resembles tbe
33ank-Swallow m these respects as closely as it does iu coloration and physique The
e p s as in all our speeies excepting the Barn and the Cliff, are immaculate white, and
about as large as tbe Barn-Swallow’s, measuring about 0'75 iu length by a trille over
0-50 in breadth ; they aro said to bo rather more uniformly oblong and pointed thau
tliose of tho species just named, and commonly live or six in number.
“ I may conclude by referring to a noto which I piiblislicd not long since, on a
supposed change of habit of the Bank-Swallow, but whieh proves to liavo really been
based on tlio present species instead. As recorded in Am. Nat. x. June 1S70, p 370
under head of ‘ Notable Change of Habit of the Bank-Swallow,’ I was informed by Hr!
llufus Ilaymond tliat a Bank-Swallow bad nested iu a building iu Brookvillo, Indiana.
Mr. Ridgway fairly questioned, in the August number of tlic same periodical, p. .193
whether the species was not the llough-wing. whieh breeds exactly as Hr. Ilavmoud
described, and as tho two species are so similar as to be confounded sometimes, ei'en hy
good observers. Dr. Uaymond shortly sent me a second communication to the sam'o
effect, wliioli I published in the ‘ Bulletin ’ of tlie Nuttall Club, vol. i. ,1. t, Nov. IS7(i,
p. 90. In this other instance, ‘ a weathei-hoard had become detached from tlic buildiu«''
leaving a small opening, in which I watched for two days a Bunk-Swailow building a
nest.’ Since then, however, he informed me liy letter, in answer to my further inquiries,
that Jlr. Ridgway was right in supposing tliat the birds were really lloiigli-wings. and
not Bank-Swallows.” * ’
The birds described and figured in the accompanying Plates are in tho British
Museum. An aduit and a young bird are represented.