NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHILADELPHIA. 47 



formibus subovatis. Pedes quarti quintis paullo longiores sed carapace vix 

 longiores. Pedes abdominales longi, primi paris carapace longiores, pedunculo 

 ramos fere adaequante. Abdomen dorso compressum, segmentis quinto sextoque 

 acutum vel spinigerum ; segmento sexto quinto longiore et spina minuta ad an- 

 gulum infero-posteriorem armato. Lamella caudalis exterior margine externo 

 spina aculeiformi infra medium armata. Long. 0.6 poll. 

 Hab. Oceano Pacifico, lat. bor. 27, long, orient. 138.1. 



The Mexican Humming Birds. 

 BY RAFAEL MONTES DE OCA, 

 Of Jalapa, Mexico. 

 No. I. 

 Campylopterus De Lattrei Gould. 

 Mellisuga De Lattrei Gray. 

 De Lattre's Sabre Wing, Gould, Monograph, part x. 



This beautiful Humming Bird, or colibri, is generally known in Mexico by 

 the name of Chupa-mirto real azul, or Royal blue Myrtle-sucker. It comes 

 abundantly to the vicinity of Jalapa, Coatepec and Orizaba, in the months of 

 October and November, and is mostly found eating the honey of a plant called 

 Masapan. It is one of those birds that do not rise early in the morning to 

 hunt their food, for very few are found earlier than nine o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, and from that time till twelve or one o'clock appears to be their breakfast 

 hours. During this time they are but very seldom seen to alight, and for a 

 very short time only in any one place, for they go constantly from flower to 

 flower, sucking the honey, and from one place to another, describing in their 

 flight a part of a circle, and sometimes almost touching the ground. In the 

 same manner also they are seen to come, so that by placing oneself where there 

 are such plants in blossom, it is easy to shoot several specimens in one morn- 

 ing without walking very far or moving much about. During the remainder 

 of the day, very few are to be seen, and it is very probable that they go into the 

 woods, where they find certain kinds of mosquitoes, with which I have often 

 found their craws well filled. 



This bird is extremely shy, but is very easily tamed, most probably on account 

 of its very gluttonous disposition ; for once caged and. provided with a little cup 

 containing syrup, without any trouble he finds it readily when he is hungry, 

 and I have seen them feasting in this manner, half an hour after having been 

 made prisoners. It is difficult to keep them alive, and I have never been able 

 to preserve them for a longer time than two months, which, I think, is more 

 on account of the want of exercise than of the coming of the winter season as 

 is generally believed here, for I have found, though rarely, in the middle of 

 what we call a severe winter, the handsomest specimens that I have ever 

 seen. 



The aversion that the males of this species bear to each other as well as to 

 all of their kind is very remarkable. It is very seldom that two meet together 

 without there ensuing an aerial battle worthy of a most magnificent picture. 

 It commences with a sharp, choleric shriek, which makes them swell out their 

 throats, and raising all the feathers of their bodies, and spreading open their 

 tails, they begin to fight with their wings and bills, and the least powerful soon 

 tumbles to the ground or else runs away. I have never seen one of these bat- 

 tles last longer than about ten seconds, and in the specimens that I have had 

 under my notice in cages, nearly always this fighting has ended in the splitting 

 of the tongue of one of the two, which then surely dies on account of not beintr 

 able to eat. 



The place of incubation of this bird is very probably Guatemala, where it i? 



I860.] 



