24 
HIRUNDO PELASGIA. 
bottom of the hollow; but sufficient fragments remained, 
adhering to the sides of the tree, to enable him to 
number them. They appeared, 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 conveniencies 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 fre- 
quent 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, 
though blind, (which they are for a considerable time,) 
sometimes scramble up along the vent, to which they 
<ding like squirrels, the muscularity of their feet, and 
the sharpness of their claws, at this tender age, being 
