VERVAIN HUMMING-BIRD. 131 



ly chosen. It is not an uncommon thing in Jamaica, 

 for a roacl up a mountain to be cut in zig-zag 

 terraces to diminish the steepness ; and, to prevent 

 the lower side of such a road from crumbling away, 

 stems of green bamboo are cut and laid in a shallow 

 trench along the edge. Shoots spring from every 

 joint, and presently a close row of living palisades 

 are growing along the margin of the road, whose 

 roots, as they spread, effectually bind together the 

 mountain-side, and make the terrace perpetual; 

 while, as they increase in height and thickness, they 

 throw their gracefully-waving tufts over the way, 

 like gigantic ostrich plumes, affording most refresh- 

 ing shadow from the heat. Such a hamhoo-walk^ as 

 it is called, winds up the steep side of Grand Vale 

 mountain in St. Elizabeth's, and here the nests of the 

 Vervain Humming-bird are frequently met with. 



One day in June, being up this road, I found 

 two nests attached to twigs of bamboo, and one 

 just commenced. Two parallel twigs were connected 

 together by spiders' webs, profusely but irregularly 

 stretched across, and these held a layer of silk- 

 cotton, which just filled up the space (about an 

 inch square) between them. This was the base. 

 The others were complete cups of silk-cotton ex- 

 ceedingly compact and neat, ornamented outside 

 with bits of grey lichen, stuck about. Usually the 

 nest is placed on a joint of a bamboo branch, and 

 the diverging twigs are embraced by the base. The 

 nest is about the size of half a walnut-shell, if 

 divided not lengthwise, but transversely. To see 

 the bird sitting in this tiny structure is amusing. 



