'570 Pacts on Hum7nmg- Birds. 



bird. I have seen the small Trochilus cristatus caught, and 

 nearly perishiifg, in the nets of a spider (which I purpose to 

 describe, from its pretty coat of burnished silver, and the 

 singularity of its characters). This bird, though remarkable 

 for strength of v^ing, was unable to extricate itself: indeed, 

 the yellow threads of this spider, pressing across the face, 

 or touched by the finger, afford a resistance which would 

 hardly be credited by those who have only noticed [the nets 

 of] the smaller species of Europe. [The net of the Euro- 

 pean Epeira diadema has the spiral lines of it studded with 

 globules of gum : see V. 691, 692. This gum contributes 

 very much to the detention of objects which have come in 

 contact with the net : the nets of some tropical species may 

 be similarly gummed.] Small birds are sometimes, also, held 

 in captivity, as well as hosts of insects, by the seeds of various 

 plants furnished with pedunculated glutiniferous glands ; or 

 those singular microscopic multiform prickles and hooks by 

 which nature has intended they shall adhere to passing ani- 

 mals, and be thus scattered over the earth. 



It has not been noticed how these humming-birds connect 

 their nests. These ingenious mechanics would find it impos- 

 sible to construct their egg-shell nidus, as other birds do, from 

 grasses and sticks, on account of its minuteness ; but in 

 stolen cobwebs an admirable substitute is found. The interior 

 is softened with the silken pappus [down] of the ^sclepias 

 curassavica, and the exterior defended by a coating of moss 

 and lichens : the whole being bound together by the webs of 

 spiders. In my stable, I often see the bird poised in the air, 

 and collecting these necessary materials. 



Ti'ochilus cristatus sometimes deviates from its usual 

 habits. In general it is remarkably wild, and soon disturbed ; 

 when it darts away through the air with the velocity of an 

 arrow, I once, however, saw a pair of this species almost 

 domesticated, in the house of a gentleman, whose kindness 

 and humanity had brought round him many a lizard and 

 winged pet. They built for many years on the chain of the 

 lamp suspended over the dinner-table; and here they edu- 

 cated several broods, in a room occupied hourly by the family. 

 I have been seated with a large party at the table, when the 

 parent bird has entered; and, passing along the faces of the 

 visiters, displaying his gorgeous crest, has ascended to the 

 young without alarm or molestation. 



Mr. Rennie's supposition [I. 372.], that all nectariphagous 

 birds will be found, on proper scrutiny, to feed on insects 

 exclusively^ is equally void of foundation. The tongue of the 



