CHIMNEY SWALLOW. 49 



of the hollow, but sufficient fragments remained adhering to the 

 sides of the tree to enable him to number them. They appear- 

 ed, he said, to be of many years standing. The present site which 

 they have chosen must however hold out many more advantages 

 than the former, since we see that in the whole thickly settled parts 

 of the United States these birds have uniformly adopted this new 

 convenience ; not a single pair being observed to prefer the woods. 

 Security from birds of prey and other animals — from storms that 

 frequently overthrow the timber, and the numerous ready conve- 

 niences which these new situations afford are doubtless some of 

 the advantages. The choice they have made certainly bespeaks 

 something more than mere unreasoning instinct, and does honour 

 to their discernment. 



The nest of this bird is of singular construction, being formed 

 of very small twigs, fastened together with a strong adhesive glue or 

 gum, which is secreted by two glands, one on each side of the hind 

 head, and mixes with the saliva. With this glue, which becomes 

 hard as the twigs themselves, the whole nest is thickly besmeared. 

 The nest itself is small and shallow, and attached by one side or 

 edge to the wall, and is totally destitute of the soft lining with which 

 the others are so plentifully supplied. The eggs are generally four, 

 and white. They generally have two brood in the season. The 

 young are fed at intervals during the greater part of the night, a fact 

 which I have had frequent opportunities of remarking both here 

 and in the Mississippi territory. The noise which the old ones 

 make in passing up and down the funnel has some resemblance to 

 distant thunder. When heavy and long continued rains occur, the 

 nest, losing its hold, is precipitated to the bottom. This disaster 

 frequently happens. The eggs are destroyed; but the young, tho 

 blind, (which they are for a considerable time) sometimes scram- 

 ble up along the vent, to which they cling like squirrels, the mus- 

 cularity of their feet and the sharpness of their claws at this tender 

 age being remarkable. In this situtation they continue to be fed 



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