H. ambrosiaca, Gmel. Lath. .1mbergrise Grey brown above, paler beneath; tail much forked. It smells so strongly of ambergrise, that a single bird suffices to perfume a whole chamber: but the odour is destroyed when the skin is dried in keeping. It is a small species, and inhabits Senegal.
H. pelasgia. Lin. Stc. ?culeated Swallow of Pennant, Latham, and Stephens. 4merican Swallow of Catesby, and Chimney Swallow of Wilson. Dusky above, grey-brown beneath ; tail feathers equal, their tips naked, and armed with an awl-shaped point. Total length four inches three lines. This species arrives in Pennsylvania late in April, or early in May, and builds its nest in high chimneys that are seldom used ; but, in the districts inhabited by In dians, where there are no chimneys, it constructs it in hollow trees. It is in the form of the third part of a cir cle, and is composed of very small twigs, fastened to gether with a strongly adhesive gummy substance, which is said to be secreted from two glands, situated on each side of the hinder part of the head, and to be mixed with the saliva. With this substance, which Vieillot asserts proceeds from the Liquidamber styricifolia, Lin and which becomes as hard as the twigs themselves, the nest, which is small and shallow, is thickly covered. It is attached by one side, or edge, to the wall. and is destitute of the soft lining with which those of the other swallows are so plentifully supplied. There are too broods in the season. The eggs are four or five, oblong, large in proportion to the bird, and spotted and striped with black and grey brown towards the larger end, on a ground of pure white. The young are fed at intervals, even during the night. In consequence of heavy rains, it frequently happens that the nest is detached from the sides of the chimney, and pre cipitated to the bottom, in which case the eggs, if there are any, are destroyed ; but, should there be young, they will scramble to the upper part, by clinging to the wall with their strong muscular feet, and, in this situation, continue to be fed by the old' ones for a week or more. This bird is easily distinguished from the other swallows by the peculiarity of its flight, frequently shooting swiftly in various directions, without any apparent motion of its wings, and uttering the sounds tsip, tsip tsip tsee, ts.re, in a hurried manner. In roosting, the thorny extremities of its tail are thrown out for its support. It never alights but in hollow trees and chimneys, and seems to be always most gay and active during wet and gloomy weather. It
is also the earliest abroad in the morning, and the latest out in the evening of any of the North American swallows. In the first or second week of September it leaves Penn sylvania for the south.
of Vie Stockholm Transactions.. and of Ste phens. H. ramie, to Lath. &c. E4culent Swallow. Shin ing dusky above,,.sh-colou•ed beneath ; tail without spots. The bill is black; the wings, when closed, are an inch longer than the tail, which is slightly forked, and has all the feathers of a uniform black, and rounded at the end The bird described under the appellation of Esculent Swallow, by Brisson Linne, Buffon, &c. does not appear to be known to the naturalists of the present day, the for mer having taken their exemplar from a drawing by Poi vre, who delineated many birds that were fictitious.
The nest of this species usually weighs about half an ounce, and is in shape like a saucer, with the side which adheres to the rock flattened. The texture somewhat re sembles isinglass, or fine gum dragon ; and the several layers of which it is composed are very apparent, the whole being fabricated of repeated parcels of a soft slimy substance, in the same manner as the martins form theirs of mud. Authors differ as to the precise nature of the materials of which the nest is composed; but it is reck oned one of the, greatest delicacies by the Chinese and other Asiatic epicures The best sorts, which have not been occupied 1.37 a second brood, which are of a transpa rent white, and perfectly free from dirt, are dissolved in soup, in order to thicken it, and are said at the same time to intpart to it an exquisite relish ; or they are soaked in water to soften them, then pulled to pieces, and after be• ing mixed with ginseng, are put into the body of a fowl; the whole is then stewed in a pot, with a sufficient quan tity of water, and left on the coals till morning, when it is ready to be eaten. These edible nests are found in vast numbers in certain caverns in Java, Sumatra, the islands of CocIun•Cltina. &c It has been calculated that from Batavia alone more than twelve tons' weight of these nests are annua'.y exported to China. A few only are brought into Eui ope, as curiosities and presents. The reader will find further details relative to these nests in Marsden's Su: niatra, third edition, p. 174; and Raffles' Java, vol. i. pp, 51 and 205.