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CHAPTER XII. 



Swallows' Nests continued. Edible Nests, East Indies. Goat- 

 Suckers. Mode of seizing Moths. Cavern with their Nests 

 described. Tenuirostres ; Narrow -billed. Nuthatch. Tree- 

 creeper. Bee-eater. Hoopoe. Kingfisher. Humming Birds, 

 Climbing Birds. Cuneirostres ; Wedge-billed. Jacama. 

 Anis. Cuckoo Anecdotes and Habits of. 



SWALLOWS' nests, as we know, are, in this country, 

 invariably made of mud externally; but, in America, 

 an intelligent traveller, Sir Francis Head, informs us, 

 that he met with those of the common species building 

 in hollow trees; the place he observed them in being 

 beyond the dwellings of man, and the accommodation 

 of houses and walls; and that they formed their nests 

 of the minute fibres of roots, strongly cemented toge- 

 ther, so as to make a compact vessel, k as tight as a 

 China cup. 



But the nest most worthy of notice is that of a small 

 Swallow, met with in the East Indies (Hirundo esculenta). 

 The species, by whose labours these nests are formed, is 

 about the size of the common Martin. Its chief pecu- 

 liarity consists in having the width of its bill increased 

 by a naked piece of skin, something like parchment, 

 which, when the bill is shut, lies folded together, but 

 which, when open, is considerably extended, enabling 

 the bird to catch with greater ease, while on the wing, 

 the insects that serve it for food. They are exceedingly 

 light and tender; ten of them together weighing little 

 more than two ounces and a half. There are two places 

 in particular, near Batavia, where they are found in 

 great numbers; both in a range of high land, extending 

 towards the sea. There are, indeed, other places in the 

 same distsict, or at a greater distance from the coast, 



