The plants represented are the Phalaris arundinacea and Antirrhinum Linaria, both common in many parts of the United States, as well as in Europe; the former growing in wet meadows and by the sides of rivers, the latter in fields and waste places, a troublesome weed, very difficult to be extirpated.
BANK SWALLOW OR SAND MARTIN.
Hirundo riparia, Linn.
PLATE CCCLXXXV. Male, Female, and Young.
Imagine, Reader, how delighted I was when, in East Florida, in the winter of 1831, I found thousands of Bank Swallows gaily skimming over the waters, and along the shores of the rivers and inlets. So numerous indeed were they that I felt inclined to think that the greater part of those which are in summer dispersed over the United States, and the regions still farther north, must have congregated to form those vast swarms. The first time I saw them was before sunrise, when I stood by the side of Lieutenant Percy of our Navy, on the deck of the United States’ schooner the Spark, then at anchor opposite St Augustine. The weather though warm, was thick and drizzly, so that we could not see to a great distance; but as probably some hundreds of thousands passed close to the vessel, in long and rather close flocks, I was well enabled to assure myself that the birds were of this species. On my expressing my surprise and delight at beholding so vast a concourse, Lieutenant Percy assured me, that he had seen them on all the streams which he had visited south of where we then were. The weather cleared up in a few hours, the sun shone brightly, and the little creatures were seen all around, dipping into the water to wash themselves, gambolling close over its surface, and busily engaged in procuring insects, which in that country are always abundant. In the course of the same season I also observed a good number of our Green-backed and Barn Swallows, but few compared with what is seen about New Orleans.
We can thus account for the early appearance of the Bank Swallows in our Middle Districts. That species always arrives there sooner than the rest, sometimes preceding them by a fortnight, and keeping equally in advance as far northward as its range extends. The Green-backed Swallow, Hirundo bicolor, follows closely after it; then the Purple Martin, Hirundo purpurea; after which are seen the Barn Swallow, Hirundo rustica, and lastly, on our eastern Atlantic coasts, the American Swift, Cypselus Americanus. It is probable that these species extend 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 River 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 great water-courses to their very sources. Even the ponds and lakes of our vast forests are at times visited by them; but no 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 case.
Wherever, throughout the United States, sand-banks or artificial excavations occur, there is found the Bank 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 lakes, but also on the coasts of the Atlantic, and not unfrequently in inland situations, at some distance 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 far more numerous than elsewhere. The banks of the Ohio, and some parts of those of the Mississippi, called “Bluffs” have appeared to me to be more resorted to by this species in our western and southern districts, although I have met with considerable numbers in every State of the Union.
In Louisiana this species begins to breed early in March, and generally rears two, sometimes three broods in a season. In our Middle Districts it commences about a month later, or about the period at which it lays in Kentucky, and there produces two broods. In Newfoundland and Labrador, it rarely begins to breed before the beginning of June, and lays only once. Dr Richardson states, that he saw “thousands of these Swallows near the 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 description given in the Fauna Boreali-Americana is a mere transcript of that which in itself is quite imperfect. Indeed, there is not in any work with which I am acquainted an account of the Sand Swallow, sufficiently minute and accurate to characterize in an adequate manner that very common species.
The sociability and gentleness of these birds, the lightness and vigour with which they perform their various evolutions, the low and unobtrusive twittering of their voice, in short, all their actions and economy, are delightful to contemplate. Their flight is exceedingly graceful, light, yet firm, and capable of great continuance. They seem indeed as if created for the purpose of spending their time on wing, for they alight less often to rest when full grown than any other of our species, when not sitting on their eggs, and are seen abroad searching for food later in the dusk, retiring for the night as late, I think, as our Swift, Cypselus Americanus. As they procure their food more commonly than the other species along the margins or over the surface of pools, lakes, rivers, or even the sea, their flight is generally performed at a small elevation, which is the case with others only when the wind blows smartly, or the atmosphere is damp and chill. The movements of their wings are those common to the family of Swallows, which flap these members less frequently than perhaps any other small land birds. The wings act on the hinge formed by the carpal joint, opening and closing like the blades of scissors. Their sailings, though frequent, are not extensive, and their tail appears to be of great service to them, as you observe that on the least deviation from a straight course, it becomes suddenly more or less closed or inclined upward, downward, or sideways; and when you see some hundreds of pairs about their breeding places, passing, repassing, and crossing each other in various ways, you almost wonder that they never come into collision with each other. The slightest movement in any direction seems sufficient to enable them to overtake and secure their prey; and they less frequently than any other species follow an insect upward to any great distance. Like all other Swallows, they drink and bathe on wing.
Their migrations are performed by day, although perhaps continued by night, and their movements are more desultory and rather slower than those of other Swallows. It is rare to observe them in great flocks at that time, their associations not being apparently formed until they reach the countries in which they spend the winter months. Their flight, when they are thus travelling, is continued rather low over the land or the water; and as in America they retire to a less distance southward than our other Swallows, they are not unfrequently seen to linger behind the rest. In South Carolina, indeed, I have seen some in November.