HUMMING-BIRD 



449 



Cometes, Diphlogsena and Thaumastura, whose very names indicate 

 the glories of their bearers. The comparatively gigantic Fatagona 

 inhabits the west coast of South America, while the isolated rocks 

 of Juan Fernandez not only afford a home to the Eustephanus before 

 mentioned, but also to two other species of the same genus which 

 are not found elsewhere. The slopes of the Northern Andes and 

 the hill country of Colombia furnish perhaps the greatest number of 

 forms, and some of the most beautiful, but leaving that great range, 

 we jmrt company with the largest and most gorgeously arrayed 



X^ 



Phaethoenis eurynome, and sest. (After Gould.) 



species, and their number dwindles as we approach the eastern 

 coast. Still there are many brilliant Humming-birds common 

 enough in the Brazils, Guiana and Venezuela. The Chrysolampis 

 ■mosquitus is perhaps the most plentiful. Thousands of its skins are 

 annually sent to Europe to be used in the manufacture of ornaments, 

 its rich ruby-and-topaz glow rendering it one of the most beautiful 

 objects imaginable. In the darkest depths of the Brazilian forests 

 dwell the russet-clothed brotherhood of the genus Phaethornis — the 

 " Hermits " ; but the great wooded basin of the Amazons seems to 

 be particularly unfavourable to the Trochilidx, and from Para to 

 Ega there are scarcely a dozen species to be met with. There is 



29 



