320 



THE SWALLOW. 



Tliese nests could hardly be recognized as specimens of bird-archi- 

 tecture by any one who had not previously seen them, as they look 

 much more like a set of sponges, corals, or fungi than nests of birds. 

 They are most irregular in shape, are adherent to each other, and are 

 so rudely made that the hollow in which the eggs and young are in- 

 tended to live is barely per- 

 ceptible. They are always 

 placed against the face of a 

 perpendicular rock, gener- 

 ally upon the side of one 

 of the tremendous caverns 

 in Java and other places 

 where these strange birds 

 love to dwell. The men 

 who procure the nests are 

 lowered by ropes from 

 above, and their occupation 

 is always considered as per- 

 ilous in the extreme. 



The nests are of very 

 different value, those which 

 have been used in rearing a 

 brood of young being com- 

 paratively low in price, 

 while those which are quite 

 new and nearly white are 

 held in such esteem that 

 they are worth their weight 

 in silver. 



In the British Museum 

 may be seen a very fine 

 specimen of the nest of the 

 Esculent Sw-allow, comprehending a mass of the nests still adhering to 

 the rock. It is rather remarkable that the birds have a habit of 

 building these curious nests in horizontal layers. 



The Esculent Swallow is a small bird, and its color is brown on the 

 upper parts of the body, and white beneath. The extremity of the tail 

 is grayish white. The British Museum possesses specimens of all the 

 Swallows which are known to make these curious edible nests. 



The elegantly-shaped and beautifully-colored Swallow may be 

 readily distinguished from any of its British relations by the Very 

 great elongation of the feathers which edge its tail, and which form 

 nearly two-thirds of the bird's entire length. 



It is the most familiar of all the Hiruudinidse of England, and from 



Swallows. 

 1. Barn Swallow. 2. Female, 

 Swallow. 4. Bank Swallow. 



3. White-bellied 



