_Hirundo serripennis_, AUD. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 593.—IB. Birds Am.
I, 1840, 193, pl. li. _Cotyle s._ BON. Consp. 1850,
342.—CASSIN.—BREWER, N. Am. Oöl. I, 1857, 106, pl. iv, fig. 50
(eggs):—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 313.—LORD, Pr. R. A. Inst. IV,
1864, 116 (Br. Columbia).—COOPER & SUCKLEY, P. R. R. Rep. XII, II,
186 (W. Terr.).—HEERMANN, P. R. R. X; Williamson’s Rep. 36 (San
Antonio, Tex.; breeding).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1, 1870, 110.
_Stelgidopteryx s._ BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 312; Rev. 314.
SP. CHAR. (No. 32,269 ♂.) Above smoky-brown, rather deeper on the
head, perhaps a little paler on the rump. Larger quills and
tail-feathers dusky-brown; the secondaries and greater coverts
sometimes lighter along their external edges. The under parts (for
about half the total length) from bill to and including breast, with
the sides of body and lining of wings, mouse-gray, rather lighter
along the throat; the rest of under parts, including crissum, white,
the latter with the shafts sometimes dusky, and very rarely with dusky
blotches at the ends of the longer feathers.
Young birds (as in 1,120) differ in a tinge of reddish-fulvous on the
upper parts; the wing-coverts, secondaries, and inner primaries
margined more or less broadly with a brighter shade of the same. The
gray of the under parts is also washed with this color, especially on
the chin and across the breast. The hooks of the edge of the wing have
not yet become developed.
(No. 32,269 ♂, fresh specimen before being skinned.) Total length,
5.40; expanse of wings, 12.20; wing from carpal joint, 4.50.
(No. 32,269 ♂, prepared specimen.) Total length, 5.20; wing, 4.50;
tail, 2.25, depth of fork, .15; difference of primaries, 2.28; length
of bill from forehead, .40, from nostril, .24, along gape, .56, width
of gape, .43; tarsus, .45; middle toe and claw, .57; claw alone, .19;
hind toe and claw, .41; claw alone, .16.
HAB. Whole United States (exclusive of Northeastern States?) south to
Central Mexico.
HABITS. The Rough-winged Swallow was first met with by Audubon, in
Louisiana, but described by him from specimens afterwards procured
near Charleston, S. C. He knew nothing in regard to its habits, and
its distribution was equally unknown to him. It has since been found,
but nowhere very abundantly, in various parts of the United States. It
has not been met with on the Atlantic coast farther to the north than
New Jersey and Pennsylvania. On the Pacific coast it is more common.
Dr. Suckley speaks of it as quite abundant both in Oregon and in
Washington Territory. Dr. Cooper, in his Zoölogy of Washington
Territory, speaks of it as common about the sandy cliffs of the bays
and inlets of that coast, arriving near the Columbia in May, and
remaining only until the middle of August, when all these Swallows go
southwards, though their last brood is hardly able to fly. He says
that they burrow holes in the soft sandy banks near the tops of
cliffs, and have generally the same habits as the common Bank Swallow.
They have no song, only a few chirping calls.
Dr. Cooper, in his Report on the birds of California, further states
that this Swallow, in summer, is found throughout the lower portions
of that State. He saw them at Fort Mojave as early as the 27th of
February, and as he has met with them at San Diego in November, and
also in January, he thinks they may winter within the State. He
describes their burrows in the sandy banks of rivers as being to the
depth of three feet, crowded very near together, and near the upper
edge of the bank, in no wise different from the nesting of the common
_C. riparia_. The nests are composed chiefly of dry grasses, with a
few feathers, and contain five white eggs. Occasionally, however, they
resort to natural clefts in the bank or in buildings, and to knotholes
in trees. In the fall they congregate in great numbers about certain
favorite spots, and keep much together in flocks. At night they roost
in their burrows. In Arizona, according to Dr. Coues, they are summer
residents, breeding abundantly, arriving late in April and remaining
until nearly the last of September.
At Eagle Pass, Mr. Dresser met these birds, arriving from the South,
on the 21st of February. There, and also at San Antonio, they were
very common, breeding in the towns, making their nests under the eaves
and in holes in the old walls, depositing their eggs by the 25th of
April. Dr. Kennerly also found this Swallow very abundant along the
Colorado River in February. Its flight seemed to him to be like that
of the common Barn Swallow. Dr. Heermann frequently met with this
species during the journey from the junction of the Gila and Colorado
Rivers through Mexico, New Mexico, and Texas, to San Antonio. In the
latter place he found them breeding almost entirely in crevices in the
walls of houses.
In the vicinity of Washington, Dr. Coues found this Swallow a summer
resident, but rather rare, arriving in the third week of April, and
leaving about the middle of September.
Mr. Ridgway speaks of this bird as one of the most abundant Swallows
of the West, inhabiting the river valleys, and breeding in holes in
the banks of the rivers. He says that in Southern Illinois it is much
more abundant than the _C. riparia_, though both nest in the same
banks.
This species was first found breeding in Carlisle, Penn., by Professor
Baird, in the summer of 1843. The following year I visited this
locality early in June, and had an opportunity to study its habits
during its breeding-season. We found the bird rather common, and
examined a number of their nests. None that we met with were in places
that had been excavated by the birds, although the previous season
several had been found that had apparently been excavated in banks in
the same manner with the Bank Swallow. All the nests (seven in number)
that we then met with were in situations accidentally adapted to their
need, and all were directly over running water. Some were constructed
in crevices between the stones in the walls and arches of bridges. In
several instances the nests were but little above the surface of the
stream. In one, the first laying had been flooded, and the eggs
chilled. The birds had constructed another nest above the first one,
in which were six fresh eggs, as many as in the other. One nest had
been built between the stones of the wall that formed one of the sides
of the flume of a mill. Two feet above it was a frequented footpath,
and, at the same distance below, the water of the mill-stream. Another
nest was between the boards of a small building in which revolved a
water-wheel. The entrance to it was through a knot-hole in the outer
partition, and the nest rested on a small rafter between the outer and
the inner boardings.
The nests were similar in their construction to those of the Bank
Swallow, composed of dry grasses, straws, and leaves, and lined with a
few feathers; but a much greater amount of material was made use of,
owing, perhaps, to the exposed positions in which they were built.
The eggs, six in number, in every instance that we noticed, were pure
white, about the size of those of the _riparia_, but a little more
uniformly oblong in shape and pointed at one end. Their length varies
from .78 to .69 of an inch, the average being .75. Their average
breadth is .53 of an inch.