214: TROPICAL NATURE, AND OTHER ESSAYS. 



noticed by all observers, and it seems to be to some 

 extent proportioned to the degree of colour and orna- 

 ment in the species. Thus Mr. Salvin observes of Eugenes 

 fulgens, that it is "a most pugnacious bird/' and that 

 " hardly any species shows itself more brilliantly on the 

 wing." Again of Oampylopterus hemileucurus, "the 

 pugnacity of this species is remarkable. It is very 

 seldom that two males meet without an aerial battle," 

 and "the large and showy tail of this humming-bird 

 makes it one of the most conspicuous on the wing." 

 Again, the elegant frill-necked Lophornis ornatus " is 

 very pugnacious, erecting its crest, throwing out its 

 whiskers and attacking every humming-bird that may 

 pass within its range of vision ; " and of another species 

 L. magnificus, it is said that "it is so bold that the 

 sight of man creates no alarm." The beautifully- 

 coloured Thaumastura Cora " rarely permits any other 

 humming-bird to remain in its neighbourhood, but 

 wages a continual and terrible war upon them." The 

 magnificent bar-tail, Cometes s-parganurus, one of the 

 most imposing of all the humming-birds, is extremely 

 fierce and pugnacious, "the males chasing each other 

 through the air with surprising perseverance and acri- 

 mony." These are all the species I find noticed as 

 being especially pugnacious, and every one of them is 

 exceptionally coloured or ornamented ; while not one of 

 the small, plain, and less ornamental species are so 

 described, although many of them are common and 

 well observed species. It is also to be noticed that 

 the remarkable pugnacity of these birds is not confined 

 to one season or even to birds of the same species, as 

 is usual in sexual combats, but extends to any other 



