253 



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. 



O WALLOWS' nests, as we know, are in this country in- 

 ^P variably 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 together, so as to make a compact 

 vessel, 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 peculiarity 

 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 district, or at a greater distance from the coast, 

 which either produce a few, or are carefully concealed by the 

 Javanese, who are unwilling that others should interfere 



