253 
CHAPTEK XII. 
Swallows’ Nests continued. — Edible Nests, East Indies. — Goat- 
Suckers. — Mode of seizing Moths. — Cavern with their Neste 
described. — Tenuirostres ; Narrow-billed. — Nuthatch. — Tree- 
creeper. — Bee-eater. — Hoopoe. — Kingfisher. — Humming 
Birds. — Climbing Birds. — Cuneirostres ; Wedge-billed. — 
Jacama. — Anis. — Cuckoo — Anecdotes and Habits of. 
S WALLOWS’ nests, as we know, are in this country in- 
variably made of mud externally; but in America, an 
intelligent traveller, Sir Francis Head, informs us, that he 
met with those of the common species, building in hollow 
trees ; the place he observed them in being beyond the 
dwellings of man, and the accommodation of houses and 
walls ; and that they formed their nests of the minute fibres 
of roots, strongly cemented together, so as to make a compact 
vessel, as tight as a China cup. 
But the nest most worthy of notice is that of a small 
Swallow, met with in the East Indies (Hirundo esculenta). 
The species, by whose labours these nests are formed, is 
about the size of the common Martin. Its chief peculiarity 
consists in having the width of its bill increased by a naked 
piece of skin, something like parchment, which, when the 
bill is shut, lies folded together, but which, when open, is 
considerably extended, enabling the bird to catchi with 
greater ease, while on the wing, the insects that serve it for 
food. They are exceedingly light and tender ; ten of them 
together weighing little more than two ounces and a half. 
There are two places in particular, near Batavia, where they 
are found in great numbers ; both in a range of high land, 
extending towards the sea. There are, indeed, other places 
in the same district, or at a greater distance from the coast, 
which either produce a few, or are carefully concealed by the 
Javanese, who are unwilling that others should interfere 
