THE NATURAL HISTORY 
2.0 S 
are an article of commerce, and, it is Laid, that the 
Dutch export every year from Batavia 125,0001b. 
or between 50 and 60 tons weight of thefe nefts. 
Some writers fuppofe, that they are coin- 
poled of fea worms, of the Mollufca tribe ; fome 
of a kind of cuttle fifb, and others of a glutinous 
plant, called Agal Agal. 
Mr. Marfden fays, that the Swallows that make 
thefe nefts, are about the ftze of a Martin, and 
that they collect with their bills from the foam of 
the fea, the materials with which they make their 
nefts. 
The MARTIN. 
The tail feathers are without fpots. The upper part cf 
the body, wings, and tail, bJaekifh, gloffcd with blue; white 
beneath; and the extreme part of the body at the fetting on 
of the tail, white. 
The Martin builds its neft againft the Tides of 
cliffs that overhang the fea, but more frequently 
under the eaves, under cornices, in the upper cor¬ 
ners of windows, or under any other projecting parts 
cfhoufes. The materials that it employs are very 
ftmilar to thofe ufed by the Swallows, viz. earth 
o.n the outude, particularly that which has been 
thrown up by worms, tempered, and mixed with 
ftraw ■, and lined with feathers. There is, how- 
