PROMEROPID^. 93 



a portion of their subsistence ; tliese tlie bird drags 

 from tlieir biding-places while fluttering in the air^ 

 and will occasionally snap at an insect whilst flying. 

 We have selected as the representative of this bril- 

 liant group — 



The Eed-hreasted Soiii-manga [Cinnyris Senegaknsis). 



Another species represented in the tabular view, — 



The Famous Creeper (Nectarima famosa), called also 

 the Malachite Sun-bird, is an inliabitant of the Ca2:>e of 

 Good Hope, where it remains throughout the year, and 

 as it is in tlie habit of frequenting gardens, soon becomes 

 familiar with the proprietitrs. Sometimes these lovely 

 bhds may be seen in flocks of forty or fifty, congregating 

 upon the branches of a favourite tree, and amusing them- 

 selves among its blossoms. The male bird, when dressed in 

 full nuptial costume, is nearly double the size of any other 

 species of this sub-family, often exceeding nine inches in 

 length. The whole of its upper surface is rich golden 

 green, marked with a reddish bronze. The feathers of the 

 throat and forehead are of the same hue, but of so deep a 

 tone that they appear at first sight to be velvety black. 

 Whenever the bhd moves, even by the act of respiration, 

 waves of blight hues seem to ripple on its surface, caused 

 by the peculiar disposition of the feathers, which are black, 

 and only coloured at their extremities. The wings and 

 tail are black, and the secondaries and coverts are edged 

 with green and violet, Avhile a tuft of bright yellow feathers 

 under each shoulder still further enlivens this gorgeous 

 costume. The female is much smaller than her mate, of 

 a dull olive-brown, except the exterior feathers of her 

 tail, which are tinged with white. The brilliant adorn- 

 ments of the Sun-birds belong, as a general rule, only to 

 the male sex, and even in the male the nuptial plumage 

 has but a temporary existence, becoming developed only 

 at the commencement of the breeding season, and being 

 lost at the moult which follows the rearmg of the young. 

 At all other seasons the males are nearly as simply clothed 

 as their mates. The nest of the Malachite Sun-bird is 

 composed of very fine fibres, interwoven and lined with 

 soft cotton}^ down found on the seed-vessels of many plants, 

 and ingeniously set round with various lichens, so as to 

 E :3 



