112 ESCULENT SWALLOW. 



a drawing of Poivre, who, it is well known, has 

 delineated many birds that were fictitious, and 

 the present species may have been in the same 

 predicament : if there was really such a bird, no 

 doubt, from the thousands of edible nests that are 

 procured, it would have occurred since his time ; 

 but the contrary is the fact. 



The nest of this bird is exceedingly curious, 

 and is composed of such materials that it is not 

 only edible, but is accounted among the greatest 

 dainties by the Asiatic epicures. It generally 

 weighs about half an ounce, and is in shape like a 

 saucer, with one side flatted, which adheres to the 

 rock : the texture somewhat resembles isinglass or 

 fine gum dragon ; and the several layers of which 

 it is composed are very apparent, it being fabri- 

 cated from repeated parcels of a soft slimy sub- 

 stance, in the same manner as the martins form 

 theirs of mud. Authors differ much as to the 

 materials of which this nest is composed ; some 

 imagine it to consist of sea worms of the Mollusca 

 class ; others of the sea qualm (a species of cuttle- 

 fish), or a glutinous sea-plant called Agal-agal. 

 It has also been supposed that the Swallows rob 

 other birds of their eggs, and, after breaking the 

 shells, apply the white of them in the composition 

 of these structures. 



The best sorts of nests, which are perfectly free 

 from dirt, are dissolved in broth, in order to 

 thicken it, and are said to give it an exquisite 

 flavour ; or they are soaked in water to soften 

 them, then pulled to pieces, and, after being 



