tion. Travellers in New South Wales are unanimous in saying that the impression made by the profusion of these magnificent birds surpasses description. As far as known, the black or ravencockatoos, lay their eggs in the hollows of trees. In captivity they feed on grains of hemp or oats, boiled corn, and are very fond of snails and

worms.

The typical genus called swallows, having more than fifty species, embraces several well known swallows both in America and in the Old World.

Their food consists of insects, which they take on the wing, usually in the neighborhood of water; they drink on the wing and often wash themselves by a sudden plunge.

They fly at the rate of a mile a minute in their ordinary evolutions, but are rather awkward on the ground; their sight is very acute. They fly low in damp weather, where the insects are most abundant and thence are supposed to foretell rain. They are most numerous in the tropics, migrating to and from temperate regions.

Swallows are easily distinguished from all other birds not only by

SPECIMENS OF THE ESCULENT SWALLOW AND EDIBLE NEST.

their general structure, but by their twittering voice and their manner of life. Several species of night-swallows are found, among which the flag night-swallow, as shown by our illustration, is one of the most interesting and beautiful. This bird is found in the tropical regions of Central Africa.

Salangane or Esculent Swallow.

The salangane is somewhat smaller than the wren. Its bill is thick; the upper parts of the body are brown, and the under parts whitish. The tail is forked, and each feather is tipped with white. The nest of this bird is exceedingly curious, and is composed of such materials that it is not only edible, but is considered a delicacy by the epicures of Asia. It generally weighs about half an ounce, and is in form like a saucer, or one-fourth of an egg, with one side flattened, which adheres to the rock. The texture resembles isinglass or gum-dragon, and the several layers of the component matter are apparent, it being built of parcels or soft slimy substance, in the same manner as the martins form their nests of mud.

There is a difference of opinion as to the materials of which this nest is composed; some suppose it to consist of sea worms or mollusks, or the spawn of fishes; others, of the seaqualm, a kind of cuttle fish, or a glutinous sea-plant called agal-agal, and others assert that the swallows rob other birds of their eggs, and after breaking their shells apply the white of them in the composition of their nests.

Eating Birds' Nests.

The best kind of nests which are free from dirt are dissolvea in broth, and are said to give it an excellent flavor, or they are used as stuffing of a fowl. They are found in vast numbers in dark caverns of islands in the Soolo Archipelago, and are sold in China at from one thousand to fifteen hundred dollars for about seventy-five pounds.

The nests adhere to each other and to the sides of the cavern, mostly in rows, without any break or interruption. They are a considerable object of traffic among the Javanese, many of whom are employed in it from their infancy. The birds after having spent nearly two months in preparing their nests lay two eggs which are hatched in about fifteen days. When the young birds become fledged it is the proper time to take the nests, and this is regularly done three times a year, and is effected by means of ladders, by which the people descend into the caverns. This operation is attended with much danger. It is estimated that the annual export of these nests from Java into China represents a value of one mil lion five hundred thousand dollars.

The humming-birds are the most diminutive of all the feathered tribes. They are natives of the warmer parts of America and some of the West India Islands, and bear a great resemblance to each other in manners. Their principal food is the nectar at the bottom of tubular-shaped flowers, which they extract while on the wing, by means of their long and slender bills.

Their name is derived from the humming noise they make with their wings. In whatever latitude, their manners are the same; very quick and active, almost constantly on the wing, as they dart in the bright sun they display their bills and colors. They rarely alight on the ground, but perch readily on branches. Their nests are delicate, but compact and lined with the softest vegetable downs, about an inch in diameter and

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depth, and perched on trees, shrubs and reeds. These little birds are very pugnacious and will attack any intruder coming near their nests. They are incidentally honey-eaters, but essentially insectivorous.

The sappho humming-bird, which is found in Bolivia, is of scarlet-red color on the upper part; the head and under parts being of a green hue, which is lighter and brighter at the throat. The wings are of a purple

brownish color and the tail feathers of garnet color tipped, with darkbrown. The color of the female on the upper parts is green, while the under parts are gray and the tail feathers light-red.

Of all the humming-birds the sword bill has the longest bill, and can therefore easily be discerned from the others. The bill is of the same