TROCHILIDAE 43 I 



The males are extraordinarily pugnacious, and one will 

 furiously set upon another who interferes in the least with his 

 comfort, the pair circling around with reiterated, high-pitched 

 notes, attacking and withdrawing in turn, almost heedless of a 

 fall or collision ; finally, beak grasps beak, and the struggle grows 

 more intense, until the defeated combatant retreats to some friendly 

 tree, only to renew the fight with vigour unimpaired should his 

 defiant note exasperate his rival beyond control. Or again, should 

 a prowling hawk, an inoffensive heron or thrush, or even a human 

 being, pass perilously near a nest, the cock wdll make a determined 

 onslaught, often with complete success ; the hen following his 

 example, if she feels called upon to protect her charge. These 

 tiny creatures seem absolutely fearless, and frequently feed at 

 once from the hand when caught. 



The twittering voice is variously described as a chirp, a 

 squeak, a querulous warble, a whistle, a loud clear piping cry, or 

 a shrill screech, while the absence of proper song-muscles makes 

 it difficult to credit Gosse's statement that Mellisuga minima 

 utters a weak, sweet warble, lasting for ten minutes.^ 



The nest is usually a moderately deep, round or oval cup-like 

 structure, which may be no larger than a walnut-shell ; this is 

 formed of the cottony down of plants, moss, wool, or like materials, 

 felted into an extremely light and spongy mass, and often decorated 

 externally with lichens, cobwebs, shreds of bark, or even feathers 

 and dry leaves. It is placed in a small fork, saddled upon a 

 bough, hung from creepers, laced among branchlets, or excep- 

 tionally fastened to thatch. In Rham;pliodon, Phaetliornis, 

 Cephaloh/pis, Heliotlirix, and possibly elsewhere, a fabric of very 

 delicate twigs, fibres, and bark is attached to the lower part of a 

 palm or similar leaf, several rings of supporting fibre encircling 

 the portion near the stalk, and spiders' webs or silky threads 

 aiding to sustain the sides of the structure, which in depth and 

 make recalls that of the Eeed-AVarbler. Oreotrochihis forms a 

 peculiar " hammock " of moss, grass, and so forth, attached by 

 like contrivances to rocks ; or at times suspends a mass of wool, 

 hair, moss, and feathers, as large as a child's head, with a small 

 depression above for the eggs, from pendent roots, tendrils, or 

 creepers. This is said to be weighted on either side, if necessary, 

 with small stones or morsels of earth, and is repaired for use in 



^ Birds of Jamaica, 1847, p. 1-30. 



