294 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE, 



fSwALLOWS. 



with its claws to the face of the cliff, and pegs away 

 •with its miniature pickaxe, making greater progress 

 than could be expected ; as it proceeds, it scrapes 

 out with its feet the sand detached by its bill, and 

 so continues its labours till the requisite depth is 

 attained. 



This species is decidedly gregarious, and may be 

 seen flying about, not only in company with others 

 of its own species, but with swallows and martins, 

 busy in the chase of prey. It probably breeds twice 

 if not thrice in the season. The general colour of 

 this species is mouse brown above, white beneath. 

 The eggs, five in number, are white. 



1334.— The Purple Martin 



(Hirundo -purpurea). This well-known bird, says 

 Wilson, " is a general inhabitant of the United 

 States (of America), and a particular favourite 

 wherever he takes up his abode." It arrives in the 

 southern frontiers late in February or early in 

 March, reaches Pennsylvania about the first of 

 April, and extends its migrations as far north as 

 the country round Hudson's Bay, where it is first 

 seen in May and disappears in August. 



"The summer residence of this agreeable bird is 

 universally among the habitations of man, who, 

 having no interest in his destruction, and deriving 

 considerable advantage as well as amusement from 

 his company, is generally his friend and protector. 

 Wherever he comes he finds some hospitable retreat 

 fitted up for his accommodation and. that of his 

 young, either in the projecting wooden cornice, on 

 the top of the roof, or sign-post, in the box appro- 

 priated, to the blue-bird (Saxicola sialis) ; or, if all 

 these be wanting, in the dove-cot, among the 

 pigeons. In this last case he sometimes takes 

 possession of one tier of the premises, in which 

 not a pigeon dare for a moment set its foot. 

 Some people have large conveniences formed for 

 the martins, with many apartments, which are 

 usually fully tenanted and occupied every spring; 

 and in such places particular individuals have been 

 known to return to the same box for several suc- 

 cessive years. Even the solitary Indian seems to 

 have a particular respect for this bird. The Chac- 

 taws and Chickasaws cut off all the top branches 

 from a sapling near their cabins, leaving the prongs 

 a foot or two in length, on each of which they 

 hang a gourd or calabash, properly hollowed out 

 for their convenience. (See Fig. 1334.) On the 

 banks of the Mississippi the negroes stick up long 

 canes with the same species of apartment fixed to 

 their tops, in which the martins regularly breed. 

 Wherever I have travelled in this country, I have 

 with pleasure seen the hospitality of the inhabitants 

 to this favourite bird." 



The purple martin is the terror of crows, hawks, 

 and eagles, uniting with the king-bird in attacking 

 them ; and so well is this known to the lesser birds 

 and to the domestic poultry, that as soon as they 

 hear the martin's voice engaged in fight, all is con- 

 fusion. 



" To observe with what spirit and audacity this 

 bird sweeps round the hawk or the eagle is asto- 

 nishing. He also bestows an occasional bastinading 

 on the king-bird, when he finds him too near his 

 premises, though he will at any time instantly co- 

 operate with him in attacking the common enemy." 



The flight of this bird is remarkably graceful, 

 easy, and rapid ; he darts along with the swift- 

 ness of an arrow, and wheels and turns with the 

 most surprising address. His usual note is loud 

 and musical, resembling the syllables " peuo-peuo- 

 peuo" but is frequently succeeded by others more 

 low and guttural. Most of the swallow tribe feed 

 upon the smaller insects. This species, on the 

 contrary, preys on wasps, bees, and even large 

 beetles, as goldsmiths (Cetonia), &c, which are 

 swallowed whole." 



"At the approaching dawn," says Nuttall, "the 

 merry martin begins his lively twitter, which, con- 

 tinuing for half a minute, subsides until the twilight 

 is fairly broken. To this prelude succeeds an ani- 

 mated and incessant musical chattering, sufficient, 

 near the dwelling, to awaken the soundest sleeper. 

 His early vigils are scarcely exceeded by the 

 domestic cock: the industrious farmer hears the 

 pleasing call to labour, and associates with the 

 favourite bird the idea of an economical, cheer- 

 ful, and useful guest. In the middle States, from 

 the 15th to the 20th of April, the martins begin to 

 prepare their nest, which is usually made of small 

 green or dry leaves, straws, hay, and feathers, laid 

 in considerable quantities. The eggs, pure white, 

 are from four to six, and without spots. They 

 rear two broods in the season. Several pairs also 

 dwell harmoniously in the same box. The male, 

 very attentive to his sitting mate, also takes part in 

 the task of incubation ; and his notes at this time 

 have apparently a peculiar and expressive tender- 

 ness." 



The male purple martin is dark bluish glossy 

 purple : the wings and forked tail are brownish 



black. The female and young are bluish brown, and 

 have the belly whitish. Tail considerably forked. 

 Length, about eight inches. Alar extent, sixteen. 



1328 (rf).— The Swift 

 (Cypselus Apus). Cypselus murarius, Temminck ; 

 Hirundo Apus, Linnaeus ; Provincial, Screech, 

 Develing, Black Martin, Screamer, Squeeler ; 

 Moutardier, Martelet, Martinet Noir, ou Grand 

 Martinet, of the French ; Rondone, Dini, and Dar- 

 dano of the Italians ; Ring-swala of the Swedes ; 

 Thurm Schwalbe of the Germans; Gier Zwaluw 

 of the Netherlander ; Martin du of the antient 

 British. 



In the genus Cypselus the tarsi are thickly fea- 

 thered ; all the four toes are directed forwards, the 

 two middle are equal. (See Fig. 1335, the Head 

 and Foot of the Swift.) 



This species is the largest of our British Hirundi- 

 nidae, but its weight is proportionately small to its 

 extent of wing ; the former being scarcely one ounce, 

 the latter measuring eighteen inches. Length, 

 eight inches. 



From its form, the swift is the most rapid in its 

 flight of our swallow tribe ; the air is its home. On 

 the ground, from the shortness of its tarsi, it can only 

 crawl ; and from the length of its wings, unless it 

 avails itself of some trifling elevation, it finds diffi- 

 culty in rising and does not succeed until after one 

 or two trials. On the ground, however, the swift 

 never willingly settles. Its feet, armed with sharp 

 curved claws, are admirably adapted for clinging to 

 the slightest roughness on the surface of rocks or 

 towers, in the dark crevices of which it rears its 

 young. The swift is the latest of its tribe to visit 

 us, and the earliest to depart, appearing about the 

 middle of April and retiring southwards in August ; 

 and rearing only one brood. 



There are few village steeples round which these 

 birds may not be seen wheeling and screaming dur- 

 ing the fine evenings and mornings of June and 

 July, now soaring aloft, now dashing round the 

 angles of the building with astonishing address and 

 velocity. It is interesting to watch them ; on the 

 wing they feed— they drink — they collect the ma- 

 terials of their nests — and enjoy the pleasures of 

 existence. From dawn, till darkness commences, 

 are they thus engaged, excepting the females, brood- 

 ing over their eggs in darkness : these are ever and 

 anon visited by their mates, who wing their way 

 repeatedly close past the crevices where the nests 

 are placed, uttering a scream as they glide by, which 

 is answered by a low murmur of complacency. 



The nest of the swift is composed of dry grass 

 and light straws, interwoven and held together by a 

 viscous substance ; and lined with feathers, silk, 

 and linen threads, skimmed from the ground during 

 flight. The eggs are white, and from two to four 

 in number. When the female, says White, has sat 

 hard all day, she rushes forth just as it is dusk, re- 

 lieves her weary limbs, snatches a scanty meal, and 

 returns to her work of incubation. The same writer 

 notices the pouch full of insects under the tongue, 

 which, when these birds are wantonly shot, is usually 

 discovered. It is in this way that all our British 

 swallows store up food for their young. 



In Derbyshire, the swift, the swallow, and the 

 martin, haunt the precipitous rocks of limestone, and 

 there build and breed, as we have abundantly ex- 

 perienced. The swift, short as is its stay in these 

 latitudes, is spread over the greater part of Eu- 

 rope. It visits Lapland, Norway, Denmark, and 

 Sweden ; in which last country Professor Nilsson 

 states that it makes its nest in hollows of trees in 

 the woods. Its eastward range appears to be as far 

 as the mountain-lake Baikal. At Erzerum it has 

 been observed in numbers from May till September. 

 Mr. Yarrell states that he has never seen this species 

 in any collection brought from India. It has been 

 noted at Madeira. Montagu extends its southward 

 range in Africa as far as the Cape : Temminck limits 

 it to the tropics. In our own country it has been 

 remarked that swifts are less plentiful with us than 

 they formerly were. 



With the exception of the throat, which is dusky 

 grey, the plumage is sooty black with a greenish 

 tinge. The tail is forked. The plumage is close 

 and firm. 



1336. — The Large- winged Swaxlow 



(Macropteryx longipennis, Swainson). Head and 

 Foot. Generic characters : — Tarsus remarkably short 

 and naked ; anterior toes long, and nearly equal ; 

 hinder toe very short. Tail long and forked. Lo- 

 cality, India. 



The present species, given as an example of the 

 genus Macropteryx, is of an obscure glossy green 

 above ; the throat, breast, and lower part of the 

 back light grey; belly, spot on the scapulars, and 

 line over the eye, white ; ears rufous ; front with 

 an incumbent crest. 



Mr. Swainson, whose description this is, and who 

 has given an elegant figure of the bird in the second 



series of his ' Zoological Illustrations,' inquires 

 whether the Hirundo Klecho of Dr. Horsfield 

 (Sambor-galeng of the Javanese), which is described 

 by the doctor in the 13th vol. of 'Linn. Trans.' as. 

 eight inches and a half in length, is not the female 

 of this species. Mr. Swainson considers Macropteryx. 

 intermediate between the typical swifts and the 

 swallows. To the first, he remarks, it is allied by 

 its strong scansorial feet ; to the latter by the length 

 and fixed position of the hind toe, and the depression. 

 of the bill. 



1337. — The Long-winged Swift 

 (Chatura macroptera). Generic characters: — Feet 

 as in Macropteryx ; but the tarsus longer than the 

 middle toe. Tail short and even, with the shafts 

 prolonged into acute points. (See Fig. 1338.) 



The long-winged swift is brown, with the wings- 

 and tail glossed with greenish blue, the back being 

 of a grey white, the chin and under tail-coverts- 

 snowy; the tail is even. This species and the 

 Hirundo albicollis are two of the largest species yet 

 discovered of a very singular group of swifts which 

 have the tail-feathers spined, and even more rigid 

 than those of the wood-peckers ; by this structure,., 

 as Mr. Swainson remarks, the birds can remain for a 

 considerable time in the most perpendicular situa- 

 tions. The expanded tail, he adds, thus acts as a 

 powerful support, which is further increased by the 

 size and strength of the claws, these last being much- 

 larger than those of ordinary swallows. Most of the 

 species are natives of America, but Mr. Swainson 

 does not say whether this is a native of that country. 



1339. — The White-banded Swallow 



(Hirundo fasciala). Hirondelle a ceinture blanche, 

 Buffon. This bird, which is extremely rare, is a 

 native of South America. According to Buffon it 

 is sometimes seen perched on floating trees in the 

 rivers of Guiana, but of its habits and nidificatioti, 

 we have no details. 



340. — The Salangane, or Esculent Swallow 

 (Hirundo esculenta). Lawet of the Javanese. 



1341. — The Linchi 

 (Hirundo fucipJiaga). Linchi of the Javanese. 

 These two species, with others not clearly defined, 

 are the constructors of those singular nests which 

 are prized as luxuries by the Chinese, and form so 

 considerable an article of commerce. 



The Lawet is brown above, whitish beneath, and 

 at the end of the tail, which is forked. The Linchi 

 is rather smaller than the former, being about five 

 inches long ; its under parts are white, and its wings 

 are longer in proportion. Specimens of both these 

 birds are in the Museum of the East India Company. 



Much has been written about these birds and 

 their nests, till, from clashing opinions, the subject 

 has become involved in difficulty. According to 

 Lamouroux, there are three species which make 

 edible nests, the most valuable being those of the 

 smallest species, which he states is distinguished by 

 the feet not being covered with down ; it is never 

 found inland, but always on the sea-coast. The nest 

 is clear and white, and composed, as he believes, of 

 sea-plants of an order termed by him Gelidia, which 

 by boiling or steeping in water may be almost wholly 

 reduced to jelly. Others consider the nest as a sort 

 of fish-spawn; others as composed of inspissated 

 sea-foam, or the juice of a tree ; and others of mol- 

 luscous animals. 



To give an idea of these nests, several of which,, 

 varying in clearness of composition, we have ex- 

 amined, we may describe them as resembling in form 

 that of the chimney-swallow, being concave, shallow, 

 and lined with feathers ; but. the crust or shell, instead 

 of being made of clay, is something in appearance 

 like fine manna as sold at the druggist's shops, 

 approximating, however, to coarse isinglass. Sir G. 

 Staunton says: — "In the Cass, a small island of 

 Sumatra, we found two caverns running horizontally 

 into the side of the rock, and in these were a number 

 of those birds'-nests so much prized by the Chinese 

 epicures. They seemed to be composed of fine 

 filaments cemented together by a transparent viscous- 

 matter, not unlike what is left by the sea upon stones 

 alternately covered by the tide, or those gelatinous 

 animal substances found floating on every coast. 

 The nests adhere to each other, and to the sides of 

 the cavern, mostly in horizontal rows, without any 

 break or interruption, and at different depths from 

 fifty to five hundred feet. The same sort of nests- 

 are also said to be found in the deep caverns at the 

 foot of the highest mountains in the middle of Java, 

 at a distance from the sea." "The value of these 

 nests is chiefly ascertained by the uniform fineness- 

 and delicacy of their texture, those that are white 

 and transparent being most esteemed, and fetching; 

 often in China their weight in silver." 



Montbeillard, who in^~1741 visited the straits of 

 Sunda near Java, and went ashore on an islet called 

 the Little Toque, discovered a deep cavern in the 



