DWELLINGS 1635 



the branch of a tree, like a great gray sphere pro- 

 longed to a blunt neck. The hornet's nest is similar 

 in construction. 



Gelatine nests are made by certain swallows who 

 nest in grottoes or cliffs on the edge of the sea. After 

 having collected from the water a gelatinous sub- 

 stance formed either of the spawn of fish or the eggs 

 of mollusca, they carry this substance on to a per- 

 pendicular wall, and apply it to form an arc of a 

 circle. This first deposit being dry, they increase it 

 by sticking on to its edge a new deposit. Gradually 

 the dwelling takes on the appearance of a cup and 

 receives the workers' eggs. These dwellings are the 

 famous swallows' nests, so appreciated by the epi- 

 cures of the extreme East, which are edible in the 

 same way as, for example, caviare. 



Certain animals, whose dwelling participates in 

 the nature of a hollow cavern, make additions to it 

 which claim a place among the constructions with 

 which we are now occupied. 



The Anthophora parietina is in this group; it is 

 a small bee which lives in liberty in our climate. As 

 its name indicates, it prefers to frequent the walls of 

 old buildings and finds a refuge in the interstices, hol- 

 lowing out the mortar half disintegrated by time. 

 The entrance to the dwelling is protected by a tube 

 curved toward the bottom, and making an external 

 prominence. The owner comes and goes by this 

 passage, and as it is curved toward the earth the in- 

 terior is protected against a flow of rain, while at 

 the same time the entry is rendered more difficult for 

 Melectes and Anthrax. These insects, in fact, watch 



