^°';g/^^- I Koch, Edible Bivd-Nests. l6l 



breeding from the interior to the rocky coast of China and 

 collect a viscous material from the mud of the sea near the foot 

 of the rocks, probably cetaceum or spawn, from which they build 

 their nests. The Chinese pull these nests from the cliffs and 

 export them in large numbers to India, where they are highly 

 prized, boiled in chicken or mutton broth, and considered by 

 gourmets the best of all delicacies." Other investigators think 

 the Salanganes build their nests from material secreted by their 

 own bodies. This substance is secreted so vigorously sometimes 

 that it is mixed with blood. Traces of blood are frequently 

 found on the nests. After the birds have once selected their 

 places for nesting, they will return to them repeatedly. Accord- 

 ing to recent investigations, a thick, tough mucus is separated in 

 large quantities by a gland, which accumulates below the 

 tongue and is pressed with the tongue against the rock. 

 After a foundation for the nest has been started in this 

 manner, the birds will cling to the projection thus formed 

 and will add layer upon layer of their strongly flowing saliva 

 by alternately moving their heads to the right and to the 

 left. While working in this manner it frequently happens that 

 they unintentionally remove feathers from their breast or neck, 

 which are thus accidentally worked into the nest. The thick 

 margin which is built finally on the nest is bent slightly inward, 

 and forms a kind of parapet, which protects the young birds 

 from falling out of the nest. The margin is lengthened out 

 winglike on both sides and stuck tightly to the rock, whereby 

 the whole nest is greatly strengthened. 



The nests are harvested three or four times a year, the first 

 time in April or May, the second time in July or August, the 

 third time in November or December. At the commencement 

 of harvesting, or " gathering," as the expert calls it, only about 

 half the nests have been left by the young birds. The other 

 half contains either eggs or young birds without feathers. The 

 eggs are eaten and the young birds thrown away. Harvesting 

 begins when the majority of the nests contains birds with stubble- 

 like feathers (fledglings). Nests containing such fledglings are 

 the best ; those containing young birds without any signs of 

 feathers form a second quality, and those containing eggs a 

 third quality article. Nests containing young birds ready to fly 

 from the nest are black and unsuitable for use, and it may be 

 generally said that the nests are the more valuable the lighter 

 their colour. The six Badong caves yield on an average 13,520 

 nests every year, and are therefore inhabited by at least 6,760 

 birds. 



That the gathering of these nests is very dangerous, and that 

 people following this business carry their lives in their hands, 

 so to say, is evident, if we consider that, apart from the above- 

 mentioned caves, all these nests are fastened to very high and 

 practically perpendicular cliffs. 



