178 HABITATIONS OF ANIMALS. 



of which their nests are composed are generally warmer 

 Small bodies retain heat a shorter time than those which are 

 large. Hence, the eggs of small birds require a more con- 

 stant supply of heat than those of greater dimensions. Their 

 nests, accordingly, are built proportionally warmer arid deeper, 

 and they are lined with softer substances. The larger birds, 

 of course, can leave their eggs for some time with impunity ; 

 but the smaller kinds sit most assiduously ; for when the female 

 is obliged to go abroad in quest of food, the nest is always oc- 

 cupied by the male. When a nest is finished, nothing can 

 exceed the dexterity of both male and female in concealing it 

 from the observation of man, and other destructive animals. 

 If it is built in bushes, the pliant branches are disposed in 

 such a manner as to hide it entirely from view. To conceal 

 her retreat, the chaffinch covers the outside of her nest with 

 moss, which is commonly of the same color with the bark of 

 the tree on which she builds. The common swallow builds 

 Us nests on the tops of chimneys ; and the martin attaches 

 hers to the corners of windows, or under the eaves of houses. 

 Both employ the same materials. The nest is built with mud 

 well tempered by the bill, and moistened with water to make 

 it more firmly cohere ; and the mud or clay is kept still firmer 

 by a mixture of straw or grass. Within it is neatly lined with 

 feathers. Willoughby, on the authority of Bontius, informs 

 us, * That on the sea-coast of the kingdom of China, a sort of 

 small, party-colored birds, of the shape of swallows, at a cer- 

 tain season of the year, viz. their breeding time, come out of 

 the midland country to the rocks, and from the foam or froth of 

 the sea-water dashing and breaking against the bottom o r tho 

 rocks, gather a certain clammy, glutinous matter, perchanc- 

 the sperm of whales, or other fishes, of which they build their 

 nests, wherein they lay their eggs and hatch their young. 

 These nests the Chinese pluck from the rocks, and bring 

 them in great numbers into the East Indies to sell ; which 

 are esteemed by gluttons great delicacies, who, dissolving 

 them in chicken or mutton broth, are very fond of them, pre- 

 ferring them far before oysters, mushrooms, or other dainty 

 and lickerish morsels which most gratify the palate. These 

 nests are of a hemispherical figure, of the bigness of a goose's 

 egg, and of a substance resembling isinglass.' 



Most of the cloven-footed water-fowls, or waders, lay their 

 eggs upon the ground. But the spoon-bills and the common 

 heron build large nests in trees, and employ twigs and other 

 coarse materials : and the storks build on churches, or on the 



