I must conclude with assuring you that in my opinion, no difference whatever exists between the Bank Swallow of America and that of Europe. The birds from which I made the drawing for my plate were procured on the banks of the Schuylkil River in 1824.
Hirundo riparia, Linn. Syst. Nat. vol. i. p. 344.—Lath. Ind. Ornith. vol. i. p. 575.—Ch. Bonap. Synopsis, p. 65.
Bank Swallow or Sand Martin, Hirundo riparia, Wils. Amer. Ornith. vol. v. p. 46, pl. 38, fig. 4.
Hirundo riparia, the Sand Martin, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii p. 333.
Bank Swallow, or Sand Martin, Nuttall, Manual, vol. i. p. 607.
Adult Male. Plate CCCLXXXV. Fig. 1.
Bill very short, much depressed and very broad at the base, compressed toward the point, of a triangular form with the lateral outlines concave, when viewed from above or beneath; upper mandible with the dorsal line considerably convex, the sides convex, the edges sharp and overlapping, with a slight but distinct notch close to the deflected tip; lower mandible with the angle very broad, the dorsal line ascending and convex, the ridge broad and flat at the base, narrowed toward the tip, which is acute, the edges inflected. Nostrils basal, lateral, oblong.
Head of ordinary size, roundish, depressed; neck short; body slender. Feet very small; tarsus very short, anteriorly scutellate, moderately compressed, with a tuft of feathers behind at the lower part; toes free, small, the lateral equal, the first much stronger; claws long, slightly arched, much compressed, very acute.
Plumage soft and blended, without lustre. Wings very long, extending a little beyond the tail, very narrow, slightly falciform; the primaries tapering to an obtuse-point, the first quill longest, the second half a twelfth shorter, the third four and a quarter twelfths shorter than the second, the rest rapidly graduated; six of the secondaries distinctly emarginate. Tail rather long, deeply emarginate, the feathers tapering to an obtuse point.
Bill brownish-black. Iris hazel. Feet flesh-coloured, claws dusky. The upper parts are greyish-brown, or mouse colour, the head and wing-coverts darker, as are the primary coverts, primary quills, and outer secondaries, of which the shafts are dusky above, white beneath. The lower parts are white; the cheeks, a broad band across the lower part of the neck and fore part of the breast, and the sides under the wings, greyish-brown. The tail-feathers are very narrowly edged with a lighter tint, the outer with whitish.