28o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



bird dashed screaming through the air, vainly attempting to rid itself 

 of its puny foe." If a person comes near their nest, they Avill fre- 

 quently hover very near, and scrutinize him with great deliberation 

 and coolness. We learn from Humboldt, that, " according to the re- 

 ligious belief of the Mexicans, Torgamiqui, the spouse of the god of 

 war, conducted the souls of those warriors who had died in the de- 

 fense of the gods into the mansions of the sun, and there transformed 

 them into humming-birds — an idea exquisitely sj^iritual, but perhaps 

 only to be appreciated by those who have seen these birds gleaming 

 like meteors, or shooting-stars, in their native regions." 



All these birds are very small. The vervain humming-bird, of 

 Jamaica, is one of the minutest of those at present known. Its body 

 is less than an inch and a half long ; its tail, less than an inch ; and 

 its total length less tlian three inches. JMost are a little larger, and 

 have longer tails. The largest bird in the family is the gigantic 

 humming-bird of Chili, well proportioned, and nearly eight inches in 

 length. 



More than three hundred- different species of humming-birds, or 

 Trochilidce, as the family is called, have been minutely described, and 

 specimens carefully prepared and preserved. Many more species are 

 supposed to exist in Mexico, and in the wilds of Central and South 

 America. The family is divided, by Wood, into twenty-eight genera. 

 While the earlier writers made a less number of divisions, some of the 

 later European naturalists have made a much greater number : in one 

 instance, no less than seventy-six genera and sub-genera. The extent 

 of the family will be apparent when we consider that "the total num- 

 ber of the birds of Europe, of eA^ery order or group, amounts to no 

 more than 503 species," while there are probably between 400 and 500 

 species of humming-birds that are included in this one family/ 



Their bills are all very slender and sharp. Most of them are long ; 

 some are straio-ht ; manv are curved downward; and a few are curved 

 upward. They all appear to be adapted to the kind of flowers from 

 which the birds obtain their food. Their tongue is a slender sucking- 

 tube, and capable of being thrust out a long distance. It appears as 

 though composed of two minute muscular tubes, lined within by two 

 partial tubes of a substance resembling parchment, laid side by side, 

 and joined together for about half of their length, but separate toward 

 the tip, near which each partial tube becomes less curved, and appar- 

 ently widened, then tapers to a point, the upper edge being irregu- 

 larly notched or slit, the barbs pointing backward. The tongue is 

 constantly moistened by a glutinous saliva, by means of which it is 



^ On the upper floor of the old Arsenal, in Central Park, New York City, at Sixty- 

 fourth Street, there is a collection of several hundred prepared specimens of humming- 

 birds, illustrating the great number and variety of species, and the extreme brilhaucy and 

 beauty of their plumage. This collection furnishes an opportunity, to any one who has 

 the ta.*te and leisure, to study this minute but interesting portion of natural history. 



