102 PASSERES. TROCHILID^. 



ings hither and thither ! I could not exactly make 

 out the matter, but suspected that it was mainly 

 an attack, (surely a most ungallant one, if so) 

 made by these upon two females of the same spe- 

 cies, that were sucking at the same bush. These 

 were certainly in the skirmish, but the evolutions 

 were too rapid to be certain how the battle went. 



The whirring made by the vibrating wings of 

 the male Polytmus is a shriller sound than that 

 produced by the female, and indicates its proximity 

 before the eye has detected it. The male almost 

 constantly utters a monotonous quick chirp, both 

 while resting on a twig, and while sucking from 

 flower to flower. They do not invariably probe 

 flowers upon the wing ; one may frequently observe 

 them thus engaged, when alighted and sitting with 

 closed wings, and often they partially sustain them- 

 selves by clinging with the feet to a leaf while 

 sucking, the wings being expanded, and vibrating. 



The Humming-birds in Jamaica do not confine 

 themselves to any particular season for nidifica- 

 tion. In almost every month of the year I have 

 either found, or have had brought to me, the 

 nests of Polytmus in occupation. Still as far as 

 my experience goes, they are most numerous in 

 June; while Mr. Hill considers January as the 

 most normal period. It is not improbable that 

 two broods are reared in a season. In the latter 

 part of February, a friend showed me a nest of 

 this species in a singular situation, but which 

 I afterwards found to be quite in accordance with 

 its usual habits. It was at Bognie, situated on 



