FAMILY CARES — BUILDING THE HOME. 133 



understood when one sees and feels the innumer- 

 able gnats. 



The saucer-shaped nest of the swallow is as 

 familiar an object in our rural homesteads as the 

 cup-shaped structure of the martin. Like these, 

 it is built of little pellets of mud, tempered with 

 saliva. But, whilst the martin's nest is self- 

 supported, the swallow's is always deposited on 

 a beam or rafter, and has small pieces of straw 

 and grass intermixed with the mud. The Indian 

 fairy-martin builds a very beautiful retort-shaped 

 mud-nest ; it is like a flask, fixed by its base to 

 the wall, with a long neck forming the mouth of 

 the nest, projecting some eight or nine inches out- 

 wards. These curious nests are found in India, 

 Africa, North America and Australia. The nest 

 of the Australian cliff-swallow, or fairy-martin, is 

 said to be made by the united efforts of several 

 birds, one remaining inside the nest and receiving 

 the pellets as they are brought by its companions. 



Some of the strangest nests are those of the 

 edible swiftlets. These birds have increased the 

 power of secreting saliva to so great an extent 

 that mud and other foreign matter is almost or 

 even entirely suppressed, the nest being made 

 of the pure secretion. Such are in great demand 

 amongst the Chinese, for conversion into " bird's- 

 nest soup." 



" With these nests," writes Dr Sharpe, "a large 

 trade is done with China from many of the 

 Malayan Islands, over three and a half million 

 nests having been known to be exported in a 

 single year from Borneo to the latter country, 

 where bird's-nest soup is considered a delicacy. 



