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A French Member,



of certainty. One was a brownish bird, faintly streaked with olive

markings on the back, chocolate coloured beneath, for all the world

like a big moth. Only one arrived, unluckily tailless and heavily in

the moult. At first we believed him to be Leucippus fallax, a deci¬

dedly rare bird, haunting mangrove swamps, the denizen of fever-

stricken localities ; but, for several conclusive reasons, one of which

is the scarcity of such marshes where the catching was effected, we

ultimately discarded this classification altogether. More probably the

young of some other genus, the early plumage of which is as yet un¬

known. Another puzzle assumed the shape of two small fellows,

grayish above, in size about equal to the immature ruby-topaz: but

their throat and chest were pink. As neither the simili-Fallax nor

the pseudo-Topaz survived more than a few weeks, this double riddle

must remain unsolved, unless I am so happy as to discover its key

in my next consignment.


Trochilus mango. This well-known species hardly calls for a

lengthy description ; it is a fair-sized bird for a hummer, naturally slim

and sleek, with a thin slender neck and nearly straight beak. In

the adult the whole of the back is a vivid green, the chest and belly

a beautiful deep black with a line of bright sapphire running down

the sides from the neck downwards. Tail rounded and violet under¬

neath. The young differ in having the entire lower parts white,

but divided by a tortuous streak of black. As the bird gains in age

this line is seen to widen out by degrees until all the white dis¬

appears, merging as it were into the ebony black, whilst a blue spot,

faintly shining by the throat, increases in size and lustre as it creeps

down towards the chest. A hardy species, taking easily to the

artificial food, graceful in its attitudes and, for a Colibris, strangely

loquacious ; besides the incessant chattering cackle that accompanies

all its actions or expresses its emotions, it boasts of a little song, more

strange than beautiful, which sounds exactly like the tearing of silk.


JEgyrtria fimbriata. Whilst of the above several individuals

were present in the consignment, only one was found of this kind.

It is an adult, and has, at the time of writing, embarked on a slow

moult. Much smaller than Trochilus mango, incredibly swift on

the wing and most eager for flies. Upper parts green, chest and

abdomen mottled white with a patch of flashing emerald on both



