LONG-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD. 



105 



beak; then I saw her fly to the nest, and having 

 seated herself in it, proceed to place the new ma- 

 terial, pressing, and arranging, and interweaving 

 the whole with her beak, while she fashioned the 

 cup-like form of the interior, by the pressure of 

 her white breast, moving round and round as she 

 sat. My presence appeared to be no hindrance to 

 her proceedings, though only a few feet distant; 

 at length she left again, and I left the place also. 

 On the 8th of April 1 visited the cave again, and 

 found the nest perfected, and containing two eggs, 

 which were not hatched on the 1st of May, on 

 which day I sent Sam to endeavour to secure 

 both dam and nest. He found her sitting, and had 

 no difficulty in capturing her, which, with the nest 

 and its contents, he carefully brought down to me. 

 I transferred it, having broken one eg^ by acci- 

 dent, to a cage, and put in the bird; she was 

 mopish, however, and quite neglected the nest, 

 as she did also some flowers which I inserted; 

 sitting moodily on a perch. The next morning 

 she was dead. 



On the 7th of May, a lad showed me another 

 nest of the same species, containing two young 

 newly hatched. It was stuck on a twig of a sea- 

 side grape tree, (Coccoloba), about fifteen feet 

 above the ground, almost above the sea, for the 

 tree grew at the very edge of the shore, and the 

 branches really did stretch over the sea. The bird 

 was wary, and would not return to the nest while 

 I staid there, or Sam, whom I stationed in the 

 tree to catch her; but on our receding a few 



