THE EAGLE, 401 



merable glutinous threads, which have been drawn irregularly 

 across each other, and have hardened by exposure to the air 

 into a material which much resembles isinglass. The natives 

 say that the construction of a single nest occupies a pair 

 of birds for two full months ; so that there is some proba- 

 bility that the material may really be secreted by the birds 

 themselves. 



The nests are only used for one purpose. They are steeped 

 in hot water for a considerable time, when they soften into a 

 gelatinous mass, which forms the basis of a fashionable soup, 

 and is not unlike the green fat of the ordinary turtle. Indeed, 

 those who have partaken of birds'-nest soup say, that if it were 

 seasoned in a similar manner, it might easily be taken for turtle 

 soup. The Chinese value this soup highly, thinking that it 

 possesses great power of restoring lost strength. It is, how- 

 ever, far too costly to be obtained by any but the rich, the best 

 quality fetching rather more than sixty shillings per pound. 



There are at least four species of swallow that make these 

 curious nests, and the natives say that the entrance to the caves 

 is always occupied by another kind of swallow, which makes a 

 nest of mixed moss and gelatine, and which fights the valuable 

 birds and drives them away. They therefore always attack 

 the intruders, and endeavour to knock down their nests with 

 stones. The nests are very small and shallow, and seem 

 scarcely capable of accommodating either eggs or young birds. 

 My own specimen is exactly two inches in length, one inch and 

 three-quarters in breadth at its widest point, and scarcely more 

 than half-an-inch deep. Its internal shape is exactly that of a 

 spoon-bowl, one-third of which has been cut oflf abruptly near 

 the handle. 



None of the purely predacious birds are remarkable for their 

 skill in architecture, and the Eagle {Aquila chrysaetos) is no ex- 

 ception to the general rule. The nest of this magnificent bird 

 is nothing more than a huge mass of sdcks flung at random on 

 some rocky ledge, and having a shallow depression in which the 

 young can lie. In general shape, or rather in shapelessness, it 



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