4 1IKVIKWS. 



wonders of whose band we, at every step, discover, and of whose sublime con- 

 ceptions we everywhere observe the manifestations in his admirable system of 

 creation ? There breathes not such a person." And this query and answer 

 are equally applicable to the whole of this numerous family. 



The ancients knew nothing of the Trochilidae for they inhabited no part 

 of the old world ; and even Africa and India had only types but those 

 splendid ones in their creepers and honeysuckers, of this class of fairy 

 birds. Their habitation is almost confined to the tropical portions of the new 

 world, and that great archipelago of islands between Florida and the mouths 

 of the Orinoco, with the mainland of the southern continent, until it passes 

 the Tropic of Capricorn. There, in the wild, uncultivated parts, they in- 

 habit those forests of magnificent timber, overhung with lianas and the 

 splendid bignonacea? the huge trunks clothed with a rich drapery of para- 

 sites ; there, 



" Like fairy sprites, a thousand birds 



Glance by on golden wing, 

 Birds lovelier than the lovely hues 

 Of the bloom wherein they sing." 



But, while some thus rejoice in the moist air of the denser forest, others are 

 equally at home in gardens or in flowery glades ; and, during recent years, 

 the most notable discovery in this department of ornithology has been made 

 at a vast height among the mountains. This fact is proved by the follow- 

 ing extract of a letter from Professor Jameson, of the University of Quito, 

 to Sir William Jardine, in which, referring to the Trochilus Stanleyi, he 

 writes as follows : *" I enclose a specimen of hummingbird which must be 

 considered as very rare; and it is with much difficulty I procured a very few 

 specimens. The most interesting point of its history is the locality which 

 it inhabits the snowy summits of Pichincha; feeding from the flowers of 

 Sida Pichinensis a charming plant, which springs from the barren, sandy 

 surface surrounding the crater, and displaying large, violet-purple flowers. 

 The plant has no branches, and the little bird, insect-like, flutters round the 

 flowers, and is remarkably quick in its movements ; it only appears when 

 the plant is in full flower; and, probably, in a few weeks it might be impos- 

 sible to procure a single specimen." Thus we see that these birds, while 

 confined to the inter-tropical limits, are found at various heights in the 

 plain, well-nigh scorched beneath a glowing sun, where the palm-tree raises 

 its lofty head; then, again, we see them higher up in the region where grow 

 the graceful arborescent ferns; and, in the instance just quoted, we again 



* From MS. in Jardine Hall Library, as given in " Excelsior," vol. ii., page 262 

 a most valuable and interesting journal, published monthly, price fld. With illustrations. 

 London : .1. Nibet. 



