AMERICAN CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 97 



vantages. The choice they have made certainly 

 bespeaks something more than mere unreasoning 

 instinct, and does honour to their discernment." 



To the following passage we request particular 

 attention. 



" The nest of this bird is of singular construction, 

 being formed of very small twigs fastened together 

 with a strong adhesive glue or gum, which is secre- 

 ted by two glands, one on each side of the hind 

 head, and mixes with the saliva. With this glue, 

 which becomes hard as the twigs themselves, the 

 whole nest is thickly besmeared. The nest itself 

 is small and shallow, and attached by one side or 

 edge to the wall, and is totally destitute of the soft 

 lining with which the others are so plentifully sup- 

 plied. The eggs are generally four, and white. 

 They generally have two birds in the season. The 

 young are fed at intervals during the greater part of 

 the night, a fact which I have had frequent opportu- 

 nities of remarking, both here and in the Mississip- 

 pi territory. The noise which the old ones make 

 in passing up and down the funnel has some resem- 

 blance to distant thunder. When heavy and long- 

 continued rains occur, the nest, losing its hold, is 

 precipitated to the bottom. This disaster frequently 

 happens. The eggs are destroyed ; but the young, 

 though blind (which they are for a considerable 

 time), sometimes scramble up along the vent, to 

 which they cling like squirrels, the muscularity of 

 their feet and the sharpness of their claws at this 

 tender age being remarkable. In this sjtuation they 

 continue to be fed for perhaps a week or more. 

 Nay, it is not uncommon for them voluntarily to 

 leave the nest long before they are able to fly, and 

 to fix themselves on the wall, where they are fed 

 until able to hunt for themselves."* 



Since Wilson seems to be certain that the gluti- 

 nous substance employed by the American chimney- 

 * Wilson, Amer. Ornith., v., 50. 

 I 



