HURGILA—HYLA COLA 



451 



he has never seen so occupied, and the '' Hermits " especially seem 

 to live almost entirely upon the insects which are found on the 

 lower surface of leaves, over which they will closely pass their bill, 

 balancing themselves the while vertically in the air. The same 

 excellent observer also remarks that even among the common flower- 

 frequenting species he has found the alimentary canal entirely filled 

 with insects, and very rarely a trace of honey. It is this fact 

 doubtless that has hindered almost all attempts at keeping them in 

 confinement for any length of time — nearly every one making the 

 experiment having fed his captives only with syrup, which is wholly 

 insuflScient as sustenance, and seeing therefore the wretched creatures 

 gradually sink into inanition and die of hunger. 



The beautiful nests of Humming-birds, than which the work of 

 fairies could not be conceived more delicate, are to be seen in most 

 museums, and will be found on examination to be very solidly and 

 tenaciously built, though the materials are generally of the slightest 

 -r-cotton-wool or some vegetable down and spiders' webs. They 

 vary greatly in form and ornamentation — for it would seem that 

 the portions of lichen which frequently bestud them are afiixed to 

 their exterior with that object, though probably concealment was 

 the original intention. They are mostly cup-shaped, and the singular 

 fact is on record {Zool. Journal, v. p. 1) that in one instance as the 

 young grew in size the walls were heightened by the parents, until 

 at last the nest was more than twice as big as when the eggs were 

 laid and hatched. Some species, however, suspend their nests from 

 the stem or tendril of a climbing plant, and more than one case 

 has been known in which it has been attached to a hanging rope. 

 These pensile nests are said to have been found loaded on one side 

 with a small stone or bits of earth to ensure their safe balance, 

 though how the compensatory process is applied no one can say. 

 Other species, and especially those belonging to the " Hermit " 

 group, weave a frail structure round the side of a drooping palm- 

 leaf. The eggs are never more than two in number, quite white, 

 and having both ends nearly equal. The solicitude for her offspring 

 displayed by the mother is not exceeded by that of any other birds, but 

 it seems doubtful whether the male takes any interest in the brood. 



HURGILA, Hind. Hargila, see Adjutant. 



HURRICANE-BIRD, see Fkigate-bird. 



HYLACOLA, Gould's name {Proc. Zool. Soc. 1842, p. 135) for a 

 genus of Australian birds, and subsequently used by him and others 

 as English. It has been placed near Atrichia (Scrub-bird) ; but 

 its true position is unknown. There are two species, one, H. cauta, 

 ■confined to South Australia and Victoria, the other, H. erythropygia, 

 of Avider range. Gould saw in them some resemblance to the 



