a. u m ).
B A N K SWALLOW OR SAND MARTIN.
IfiRU.VDO K1P.1RIA, LINN.
Imag! ? k ? Jl<f
,l0l;, h,„v delighted I was »W' i i i East Florida 'in
the winter 0/ 1881, J found thousands of Bant Swallow? gaily" skimming:
m the and along the shor,esof % {¿e® and ¿lets. g o
^ W f e they that I ft-lt ii,di,n,l ^'think t h ^ t j g ^ a t o r
t
part „hf thoSt! which are in summer dispe^ed oyer the' United State,
and the r||;^ons ;8till farther north, must hare congregated toformthoS
yast swarms. The first time £ saw t$Lem was sunnsie, w h S j
Stood by the s idegLieutenant P,..kcY ^ S M I 0n the deck o f t f c
United Statgg schooner the Spark, then at anchor oppositfSt
tine. The w e a t h e r ; ^ | h warm, was thick and drizzly,' s o that we
could not see to distance; but as prol.al.h^rhundreds'of
thousands passed cloy to t h o y ^ e l , in J0ng and rather Uf f f locks , I
was well fmabled t? ] assume W s e l f that the birds were of this ¿ecms
On my ^ r e s smg m^s^r ise^and delight at beholding s | vast a con- '
^course, I.ieutommt I'khcv assured me, that he had seen them on all
the streams which he had a<Hed south of where we then were" • The
•weather cfetred up in a fov hours, the SUn shone brightly, and the
little creatures were |S,,.n all around, pipping int o t water J w ^ h
thems^yes, gambolling (close oyer its surface, and busily engaged in
. procuring which in that"country are always abundant. In the
c<mrs<! o f t l H ' sam<> Mfteryod a good number rforn: ¿«¡mbacked
a£_d Bam Swallows, but few compared with what S s e lLbou t
New; .Orleans.
., We can thus am.mit for th.Mmriy appe^anco of the Bank S>vall„4
m our .Middle District*.. That .sppci^s always a r r i y ^ t h S ^ W
than the rest, sometimes, preceding them by a fortnight, and k e ^ h g
equally in advance, as far northward as its range extends. The (ireenbacked
Swallow, Hiriwdo bicohr, follows closely after i t ; then the Purple
Martin, J/irun<lo purpurea ; after which aro seen th« Barn Sw^pw,
llirundo ru/tica, aud lastly, on our exter n Atlantic coasts, the American'
Swift, (iyt>Ml,u AmricMm. Im probable that the?s* .species,'¿tend
BANK SWALLOW. 585
their autumnal migrations: southward in a degree proportionate to the
lateness of their appearance in Spring* I have likewise observed the
arrival of the Bank Swallows on the waters of the Serpentine Hiver and
those of the Regent's Park, in London, to be in the same proportion
earlier than that of the other species which visit England in spring,
and have thought that, as with us, the first mentioned species retires to
a less distance in winter than the rest.
The Bank Swallow has been observed on both sides of North America,
and in all intermediate places suited to its habits. This is easily
accounted for, when we reflect how easy it is for these birds to follow
our groat water-courses to their very sources. Even the ponds and
lakef; of our yast forests are at times visited by them ; but iio person
seems to have been aware of the existence of two species of Bank Swallows
in our country, which, however, I shall presently shew to be the
caSo. .
Wherever, throughout the United States, sand-banks or artificial
excavations occur, there is found the Hank Swallow during the breeding
season, in greater or smaller numbers, according to the advantages
presented by the different^ localities, not only along the shores of our
rivers and laies, but also on the coasts of the Atlantic, and not unfreçpéntlyi
» inland situations, at some distancé from any water. High
banks, composed of softish sandy earth, on the shores of rivers, lakes
or other waters, suit, them best, and in such situations their colonies
are-îâï more numerous than elsewhere. «-'The banks of the Ohio, and
spine parts of those of the Mississippi, called " Bluffs," have appeared
to: mo to bo more resorted to by tills species in our western and southern
districts, although I have met with considerable numbers in every
State of the Union,
In Louisiana thi> species begins to breed early in March, and generally
rears two, sometimes three broods in a season. In our Middle
Districts: it commencsft about a: month later, or about the period at which
î i l B |S in Kentucky, and there produces two broods. In Newfoundland
and Labrador, it rarely begins to breed before the beginning of June,
and lays only one«. Dr Richardson states, that he saw " thousands
of these Swallows near thé mouth of the Mackenzie, in the sixty-eighth
parallel, on the 4th of July," and from the state of the . weather at that
period supposed that they had arrived there at least a fortnight prior
to that date, but no specimens were brought to England, and the de