240 BIRDS' NESTS 



although I have seen clusters of several nests, each 

 attached to the one adjoining. House Martins are 

 also much attached to their breeding places, and 

 yearly return to their old nests, after their migrational 

 journeys of thousands of miles and an absence of 

 quite six months. Far away in India a Martin 

 (Chelidon cashmeriensis), closely allied to our own, 

 makes a nest on a very similar plan, attaching it to 

 cliffs under the. little projections. It is made externally 

 of mud and bits of moss, and lined with grass stems 

 and feathers. Another Eastern species of Martin 

 (C. blakistoni), found in Japan, was thought by Mr 

 Jouy to make its nest largely of saliva when breeding 

 in the volcanic region of Fuji-Yama, at an altitude 

 above the limits of forest growth where no mud could 

 be obtained. Many of these birds that were shot in 

 this region had their mouths full of fine scoriae dust, 

 which when mixed with saliva evidently became a 

 substitute for mud. These Martins were breeding in 

 considerable numbers on the sides of an inaccessible 

 cliff or chasm on this mountain. An interesting 

 instance of the intelligence often displayed by 

 Swallows in nest-building has been recorded by Mr 

 F. Lewis (Nature, 1886, p. 265). This relates to the 

 ** Bungalow " Swallow {Hirundo javanica), so named 

 because of the frequency with which it breeds in 

 houses. A pair of these birds made a nest on the top 

 of a hanging lamp, taking care to build the domed 

 cradle over the pulleys by which the lamp was lowered 



