THE NEST OF THE SWALLOW. 123 
Wilson, upon whose accuracy of observation we can 
safely rely, considers one mile in a minute as a true 
estimate of the ordinary speed of this bird ; and upon 
this he bases a calculation to show over what extent 
of ground in a straight line our little friend would 
glide during his short life, allowing ten hours of each 
day as the time occupied by the bird in performing 
his evolutions. According to this estimate, he will, 
during the ten years of his existence, have passed 
over the incredible space of 2,190,000 miles, or 87 
times the circumference of the globe. 
The form of the nest built by the different species 
of Swallow varies much. We are all familiar with 
the frail tenement of sticks in which the Chimney 
Bird deposits her snow-white eggs, and the neat and 
comfortable nest of the Barn Swallow, which it 
perches upon a projecting rafter near the peak of the 
barn. But the nest of the Cliff Swallow is of re- 
markable construction, being shaped like a gourd 
with a neck, and is composed of little pellets of mud, 
deposited by the bird one after another, until the 
required shape and size are attained. These nests 
are generally attached to the sides of a rock or pro- 
jecting cliff, or to the walls of a building, sometimes 
as many as hundreds together. Their thus congre- 
gating and living in flocks or families has given 
them in some localities the name of Republican 
Swallows. 
In the islands of Java and Ceylon, and many 
others adjacent, is found a species called the Edible 
