EDIBLE SWALLOW. 
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should be seen standing alone, it is nearly certain to be the 
home of a Hare, which has made its warm soft couch within the 
mass of needle-like prickles. 
The Tiger has a very similar habit, and takes advantage of 
a certain drooping shrub, called the Korinda , which is of low 
growth, making its lair underneath the boughs, which afford at 
once a shelter from the sun and a concealment from enemies. 
We now pass to the Birds, the first of which is that remark- 
able species called the Edible or Esculent 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 J -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 
translucent, 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 
by use and exposure, and are not fit for the purposes of the table 
until they have been cleaned and bleached. 
These nests are found in Borneo, Java, &c., and are extremely 
local, being confined to certain spots. The birds always choose 
the sides of deep cavernous precipices, so that the task of 
obtaining the nests is extremely dangerous. They are attached 
to the perpendicular rocks much as the ordinary mud-built 
swallow-nests, and are generally arranged in horizontal layers. 
The caverns in which the nests are placed are extremely valuable, 
and are preserved with jealous care from any intruder. 
