EDIBLE SWALLOW. 615 



will often hide itsell' very effectually in a tuft of grass that 

 seems scarcely large enough to conceal a rat. But it is by no 

 means insensible of the value of a denser cover, and seems to 

 have a peculiar affection for a thick, though small, clump of 

 furze. 



Within a mile or two of my house there is a heath which is 

 partly studded with furze bushes, and which is a very paradise 

 for various field animals. The field-mice have covered it with 

 their " runs," which are often so slightly below the surface, that 

 if the finger be inserted in the entrance it can be pushed along 

 the whole length of the burrow, the only cover being a slight 

 layer of stUl living moss. As to the Hares, a " form " can be 

 found every few yards, and if a little thick stubbly fiirze-bush 

 should be seen standing alone, it is nearly certain to be the 

 home of a Hare, which has made its warm soft oouch within 

 the mass of needle-like prickles. 



The Tiger has a very similar habit, and takes advantage of a 

 certain drooping shrub, called the Kcn-inda, which is of low 

 growth, making its lair underneath the boughs, which afford at 

 once a shelter from the sun and a concealment fix>m enemies. 



We now pass to the Birds, the first of which is that remark- 

 able species called the Edible or EscLiiENT Swallow {Collocalia 

 nidified). The popular name is given to it, not because itself is 

 edible, but because its nest is eaten in some countries. 



We have all heard of birds'-nest soup, and some of us may 

 possibly have imagined that the nests .in question are made of 

 the ordinary vegetable substances, such as moss, leaves, and 

 twigs. Some persons have thought that the material is fish 

 spawn, while others think that it is secreted by certain glands 

 situated in the throat, and therefore produced entirely by the 

 bird. The real material is clearly a kind of seaweed. I possess 

 some of this substance, which, when dried, is colourless and 

 trEinslucent, exactly like the nest. When placed in boiling 

 water, it swells into a gelatinous mass, quite tasteless, as is the 

 nest itself, and capable of being drawn into fibres like those of 

 which the nest is made. 



When first made, these nests are very white and delicate in 

 their aspect, and in that condition are extremely valuable, being 

 sold at an extravagant price to the Chinese. They soon darken 



