588 BANK svrAu.ow.
tbflft but frequently snatch-them from t h ^ m m o f m m e , „*
P l a J , t S H" • B B -alighted. They also seize, small aqua^
W% i b s t , . , a l t h p u g h I. suspect that the
y disgprg,, in peE^ts, the
{ « * » * > * « the«, r hay&ino proof, obtained, from actuai observe
tion, that. tli(!.v,(lo.?.(j. n:
The holes perforated by this species for the purpose of breeding
require considerable exertion and labour. They are usually bored at
the distant of two or three feet from the summit of the bank or surface
of the ground, to the depth of abput three feet, but sometimes to
that of four, or even five. They are, near each, other or remote, according
to ,the. number,.of pairs ,of swallows that resort to the place, and
the extent, of the bank. In one situation you may find not more than
a dozen pairs at work, while in another several hundreds, of holes may
be seen scattered over some hundreds of yards. On the bluffs of the
Ohio and the Mississippi .there are many very extensive breedingplaces.
While engaged in digging a sand-bank on the shore of the
Ohio, at Henderson, for the purpose, of .erecting a steam-mill, I was
both amused and vexed by the pertinacity with which the little winged
labourers continued ,to, bore,holes day after day, whilst the pickaxes
and. shovels demolished them in succession. The birds seemed to have
formed a strong attachment to. the place, perhaps on .account of the fine
texture of the.^il, as I observed many who had begun holes a few
hundred yards off abandpn, them, and join those engaged in the newly
opened excavation. Whether the holes, are frequently bored horizontally
or ¿not I cannot rsay, but many which I examined .differed in this
respect,from those described by authors, for on introducing a gun-rod
or other straight stick, I found them to have an inclination of about
ten degrees upwards. The end of the hole is enlarged in the form of
an oven, for the reception of the nest, and the accommodation of the
parents and their brood.
When the birds have for a while examined • nature of the bank,
they begin their woi-k by alighting against it, securing themselves by the
claws, and spreading their tails considerably so as, by being pressed
against the surface, to support the body. The bill is now employed in
picking the soil,,, until a space large enough to admit the body of the
bird is formed, wlien the feet and claws are also used in scratching out
the sand. I have thought that the slight, ascent of the burrow contributed
considerably to enable the bird to perform the severe task of dis-
BANK SWALLOW. 589
posing. of the loose materials, which are seen dropping out at irregular
intervals. Both sexes work alternately, in the same manner -as Woodpeckers
; and few ornithological occupations have proved moré pleasing
to me than that of watching several hundred pairs of these winged
artificers all busily and equally engaged, some in digging the burrows,
others in obtaining food, which they would now and then bring in their
bills for the use of their mates, or in procuring bits of dry grass or large
feathers of the duck or goose, for thé construction of their nests.
So industrious are the little creatures that I have known a hole dug
to the depth of three feet four inches, and the nest finished in four
days, the first egg being deposited on the morning of the fifth. It
sometimes happens that soon after the excavation has been commenced,
some obstruction presents itself, defying the utmost exertions of the
birds ; in which case they abandon the spot, and begin elsewhere in the
neighbourhood* If these obstructions occur and aré pretty general,
the colony leaves the place ; and it is very seldom that, after such an
occurrence, any swallows of this species are seen near it. I have sometimes
beén surprised to see them bore in extremely loose sand. On
the sea-coast, where soft bariks are frequent, ' you might suppose thaty
as the burrows are only a few inchès apart, the sand might fall in so as
to obstruct the holes and suffocate their inmates ; but I have not met
with an instance of such a calamitous occurrence: Along the banks of
small rivulets I have found these' birds having nests within a foot or
two of the water, having been bored among the roots of some large trees,
where I thought they wére exposed to micé, rats, or other small predaceous
animals. The nest is generally formed of some short bits of
dry grass, and lined with a considerable number of large feathers.
They lay from five to seven eggs for the first brood, fewer for the next.
They are of an ovate, somewhat pointed form, pure white, eight-twelfths
of an inch long, and six-twelfths in breadth.
The! young, as soon as they are able to move with ease, often crawl
to the entrance of the hole, to wait the return of their parents with
food. On such occasions they are often closely watched by the smaller
Hawks, as well as the common Crows, which seize and devour them, in
spite of the clamour of the old birds. These depredations upon the
young are in fact continued after they have left the nest, and while they
are perched on the dry twigs of the low trees in the neighbourhood,