ii8 Bird - Lore 



{Lygus pratensis), and other injurious insects. The bird is, of course, largely 

 beneficial to the agricultural interests of the country." 



In China and some of the neighboring countries, there are Swifts which 

 build even more peculiar nests than the American species. No sticks or twigs 

 are employed in their construction, the gummy saliva from the bird's mouth 

 being the only material used. These nests are much sought by the people 

 of those countries as an article of food. They are built on the faces of cliffs, 

 or the walls of caves. In large numbers, they are gathered and sold in the 

 markets as "edible birds' nests." To prepare them for the table, they are 

 cooked in the form of soup. Our Swift is a representative of a large and 

 widely distributed family. There are about eighty species found throughout 

 the world. About thirty occur in America, but only four in North America, 

 and the Chimney Swift (Chcetura pelagica) alone represents the family in 

 the eastern part of the United States. 



