112 THE NATURALIST IN NICARAGUA. [Ch. YII. 



half circle, and each feather widening towards the end 

 makes the semicircle complete around the edge. When 

 catching the ephemeridae that play above the water, the 

 tail is not expanded : it is reserved for times of court- 

 ship. I have seen the female sitting quietly on a branch, 

 and two males displaying their charms in front of her. 

 One would shoot up like a rocket, then suddenly ex- 

 panding the snow-white tail like an inverted parachute, 

 slowly descend in front of her, turning round gradually 

 to show off both back and front. The effect was height- 

 ened by the wings being invisible from a distance of a 

 few yards, both from their great velocity of movement 

 and from not having the metallic lustre of the rest of the 

 body. The expanded white tail covered more space than 

 all the rest of the bird, and was evidently the grand 

 feature in the performance. Whilst one was descending, 

 the other would shoot up and come slowly down ex- 

 panded. The entertainment would end in a fight be- 

 tween the two performers ; but whether the most beautiful 

 or the most pugnacious was the accepted suitor, I know 

 not. Another fine humming-bird seen about this brook 

 was the long-billed, fire-throated HeUomaster pallidiceps, 

 Gould, generally seen probing long narrow- throated red 

 flowers, forming, with their attractive nectar, complete 

 traps for the small insects on which the humming-birds 

 feed, the bird returning the favour by carrying the 

 pollen of one flower to another. A third species, also 

 seen at this brook, Petasophora dclpliince, Less., is of a 

 dull brown colour, with brilliant purple ear-feathers and 

 metallic-green throat. Both it and Florisuga mettivora are 

 short billed, generally catching flying insects, and do not 

 frequent flowers so much as other humming-birds. I 



