Western Bird Guide: Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific

by Charles K. Reed

BANK SWALLOW.

616. Riparia riparia. 5½ inches.

The whole of North America north to the limit of trees, and south to the Gulf of Mexico, breeding from the middle portion of the United States northward. These birds build their nests in sand banks in almost all sections of the country, digging a small tunnel from one to three feet in length, enlarged and lined with grass at the end. They lay from four to six pure white eggs (.70 × .50).