39! r.lIIDS OF IXDIA. 



they creep somewhat like 'VYood]:)eckers. They have a loud 

 chattering note, are restless in their habits, and have a disagreeable 

 smell. Falcuiia and Frephipus are placed by some as a distinct 

 sub -family. 



The remainino; families of the Tenuiros(7'es are the Hummino-- 

 birds, the Honey-eaters, and the Paradise-birds. The Humming- 

 birds, TROCHiLiDiE, are the gems of the feathered creation, the 

 smallest and the most lovely of all. Their bill is very slender, of 

 various length and curvature ; the wings are long and pointed, the 

 quills sometimes of great strength ; the tail of ten feathers, usually 

 short and nearly even, lengthened and forked in some; the tarsus 

 is short and feeble, and the toes are small. They are often adorned 

 with various ornamental tufts of feathers, like the Birds of Para- 

 dise, and some of the Einmachina ; and the feathers are frequently 

 scale-like, with metallic lustre. 



In their anatomy they resemble the Swifts, having a similarly 

 formed sternum, without any notch behind, a small gizzard, no 

 cseca; and their body-feathers possess the supplementary plume ; 

 but they differ from the Cypselida by having a complicated inferior 

 laryx,* and their toes are composed of the usual number of 

 phalanges. The tongue is formed of two filaments, and is capable 

 of protrusion, like that of the Woodpeckers; in some it is furnished 

 near the tip with retroverted spines. 



The Humming-birds are found only in America, and chiefly in 

 the tropical regions, often at great elevations. They feed on 

 the nectar of flowers, and also on flies and other small insects that 

 harbour in flowers, some (it is said) seizing them in the air. They 

 build a neat and delicate nest, of various soft materials, upon 

 branches or leaves, and lay almost invariably two white eggs. 



Mr. Gould has just completed a magnificent monograph of this 

 group, which now numbers above 400 species. 



The Melliphagid.e, or Honey-eaters, of Australia and neigh- 

 bouring islands, form a well marked group, distinguished by the long 



* The largest of the nummiiig-birds, Patar/oiia ff/[/as, has a simple vocal ap- 

 paratus, with ouly the ordinary sienio-tracheal long teudiuous muscles. 



