270 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. 



profusion ou the borders of the mountain streams." * In the Oatalina 

 Mountains of Arizona, in August and September, Mr. W. E. D. Scott 

 found it " very abundant, feeding- on thistles and a kind of scarlet 

 flower very similar to the Salvia or Scarlet Sage, " it being " no uncom 

 mon sight to see from twenty to fifty of the birds at once ;" and in the 

 valley of the Truckee River, near Pyramid Lake, Nevada, I found them 

 equally numerous among the sunflowers which grew in patches in the 

 river bottoms. 



In the tropical regions, where, instead of one or at most three or four 

 species, dozens of kinds inhabit the same district the abundance of 

 individuals is frequently amazing to one unused to such sights. 



Says Mr. Water ton : 



Cayenne and Deinerara produce the same Humming Birds. Perhaps you would 

 wish to know something of their haunts. Chiefly in the months of July and August 

 the tree called Bois Immortel, very common iu Demerara, bears abund ance of blossoms 

 which stay on the tree for some weeks ; then it is that most of the species of Hum- 

 ming Birds are very plentiful. The wild Red Sage (Salvia splendens) is also their 

 favorite shrub ; and they buzz like bees round the blossoms of the Wallaba tree ; in- 

 deed, there is scarcely a flower iu the interior or on the seacoast but what receives 

 frequent visits from one or other of the species. 



On euteriug the forests of the rising land in the interior, the blue and green, the 

 smallest browu, no bigger than the bumblebee, with two long feathers in the tail, 

 and the little forked-tail purple-throated Humming Birds glitter before you in ever- 

 changing attitudes. 



As you advance towards the mountains of Demerara other species of Humming 

 Birds present themselves before you. 



The Humming Birds of Jamaica are not as numerous in species as 

 those of California (there are only three species), but they appear to 

 make up for this deficiency by abundance of individuals. 



I cannot quit the subject [says the Rev. Lansdown Guilding] without speaking of 

 the delight that was afforded me in .Taraaica by seeing Humming Birds feeding on honey 

 in the florets of the great Aloe (Agave ainericana, hiun,). On the side of a hill upon 

 Sutton's estate (the property of Henry Dawkins, esq.) were a considerable number 

 of aloe plants, of which about a dozen were in full blossom. They were spread 

 over a space of about 20 yards square. The spikes, bearing bunches of flowers in a 

 thyrsus, were from 12 to If) feet high; on each spike were many hundred flowers of 

 a bright yellow color, each floret of a tubular shape and containing a good-sized 

 drop of honey. Such an assemblage of floral splendor was in itself most magnificent 

 and striking ; but it may be imagined how much the interest caused by this beautiful 

 exhibition was increased by vast numbers of Humming Birds, of various species, 

 fluttering at the opening of the flowers, and dipping their bills first into one floret 

 and then into another, the sun, as usual, shining bright upon their varied and 

 beautiful plumage. The long-tailed or Bird-of-Paradise Humming Bird was particu- 

 larly striking, its long feathers waving as it darted from one flower to another. I 

 was so much delighted with this sight that I visited the spot again in the afternoon, 

 after a very long and fatiguing day's ride, accompauied by my wife, on horseback, 

 when we enjoyed the scene before us for more than half an hour. 



* Report of Ornitliological Collections, Wheeler's Expedition, p. 131. 



