FASSERES. 



small dead twigs of a tree or bush, where he dresses or arranges his 

 pkimagc with great nicety. His only note is a single chirp, not 

 much louder than that of a cricket or grasshopper : this is gene- 

 rally uttered while passing from flower to flower, or when engaged 

 in fight with his fellows ; for when two males meet at the same 

 bush or flower, a battle invariably ensues, and the combatants 



Fig 41. — The Racket-tailed Humriing-Bird (Me/usu^a iuirahilis.) 



ascend into the air, chirping, darting, and circling round each other, 

 till the eye is no longer able to follow them. The conqueror gene- 

 rally returns to reap the fruits of victory. The flight of these birds 

 much resembles that of a bee, but is so much more rapid that the 

 insect appears to be a mere loiterer in comparison. It has gene- 

 rally been supposed that the food of the humming-birds consists 

 entirely of honey or the liquid sweet that they gather from the 

 flowers ; but observation has given rise to the belief that it is 

 rather upon the minute insects that feast upon the farina of tu- 

 bular flowers that they subsist. Sometimes, indeed, they may be 



