114 PASSERES. TROCHILID.E. 



vulsive struggle. This was the fate of my first 

 attempts. 



In the autumn, however, they began to be nu- 

 merous again upon the mountain, and having, on 

 the 13th of November, captured two young males 

 sucking the pretty pink flowers of Urena lobata, 

 I brought them home in a covered basket. The 

 tail-feathers of the one were undeveloped, those 

 of the other half their full length. I did not 

 cage them but turned them out into the open 

 room in which the daily work of preparing speci- 

 mens was carried on, having first secured the doors 

 and windows. They were lively, but not wild; 

 playful towards each other, and tame with respect 

 to myself, sitting unrestrained for several seconds 

 at a time on my finger. I collected a few flowers 

 and placed them in a vase on a high shelf, and 

 to these they resorted immediately. But I soon 

 found that they paid attention to none but As- 

 clepias curassavica, and slightly to a large Ipomea. 

 On this I again went out, and gathered a large 

 bunch of AsclepiaSy and was pleased to observe 

 that on the moment of my entering the room, one 

 flew to the nosegay, and sucked while I held it 

 in my hand. The other soon followed, and then 

 both these lovely creatures were buzzing together 

 within an inch of my face, probing the flowers so 

 eagerly, as to allow their bodies to be touched 

 without alarm. These flowers being placed in 

 another glass, they visited each bouquet in turn, 

 now and then flying after each other playfully 

 through the room, or alighting on various objects. 



