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wings, when closed, reaching beyond the end of the tail, 

 which is forked ; the first quill-feather in the wing is the 

 longest ; the others in succession diminishing gradually. 



Young birds of the year, before leaving this country, 

 have the brown feathers of the back and upper tail-coverts, 

 as also those of the wing-coverts and the tertials, tipped 

 with buify white, as shown in the upper figure of the two 

 representations given at the head of this subject ; the chin 

 is also buffy white. 



White and yellowish white varieties of the Sand Martin 

 are occasionally obtained. 



The upper figure in the illustration represents a young 

 bird of the year ; the other is from an adult bird. 



The vignette below represents the edible nest of the 

 Chinese Swallow. These nests, which look something like 

 isinglass, are, when cleaned and broken in pieces, served up 

 to table in chicken broth ; they eat short, like cartilage, 

 and are perfectly flavorless. 



