more notes on new humming-birds.



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sides. This bird somewhat puzzled us at first by the unusual vivid

colouring of his beak, which is of a lovely coral shade. Out of

dozens of skins observed, not one showed this peculiarity, nor is it

mentioned in Ornithological works, where the bill of JE. fimbriata

is described as black or brownish black, certainly never carmine.

No doubt discolouration speedily follows upon death, and only skins

have to this day furnished the material for study. Fimbriata is, or

thinks himself, quite an accomplished songster; he has a little

melody, which he practices for hours together, preferably of a morn¬

ing ; a faint chirp, followed by a long, soft, reedy trill in the treble.

He is a great favourite, in a collection where almost each item is a

pet, and this not only for his funny, winning little ways, his vivacity,

his intelligence, but also because he escaped from the very jaws of

death. When upon arrival he was taken out of the big travelling

box he shared with many others, to be let loose in a nice all-wire

cage by himself, I thought I had never in all my past experience

seen a creature so wild ; he would dash about at lightning speed,

throwing himself madly against the sides, panting and shivering

with fright : such was his anguish that every time one had to open

the door of his house and insert the hand, he fell backwards on the

floor in a fainting fit. Each day I expected to pick him up dead ;

but no, patience and kindness slowly dispelled his terrors, he be¬

came gentle, confiding, even friendly. But scarcely had he grown

reconciled to human presence when, for no cause I can conceive,

he contracted quite suddenly that mysterious ailment of the bowels

previously alluded to. This again took weeks to cure; however he

has now overcome both his wildness and the other trouble, and

certainly seems one of the happiest members of my little family.

He has developed a quaint habit when he thinks his tail is in need

of a wash, of flying on to the wires above his hanging bath, then,

clinging there and bending his body backwards, of dipping his lower

feathers in the water. This original performance or hip-bath is wound

up with the customary toilet, as indulged in by all humming-birds,

who, afraid to trust their tiny legs to the dreaded depths of a tin,

prudently content themselves with sitting on its inner edge, plunging

in their head and neck, all the while frantically flapping their wings

about, in the hope of causing the liquid to run down their back.



