HUMMING-BIRDS. 225 



At once the thing was revealed to me. I cauglit friend PaiLy in the very act of 

 abstracting a small spider, with the point of his long beak, from the centre of one of 

 those beautiful circular webs of the garden spider, that so abound throughout the South. 

 Tlie thing was done so daintily, that he did not stir the dew drops, which, now glittering 

 in the golden sun, crowded the gossamer tracery all diamond strung. 



' Hah ! we've got your scent, my friends ! Hah ! ha ! hah ! ' And we clapped and 

 danced in triumph. 



Our presence did not disturb them in the least, and we watched them catching spiders 

 for half an hour. They frequently came within ten feet of our faces, and we could 

 distinctly see them pluck the little spider from the centre of the wheel where it lies, and 

 swallow it entire. After this, we let them out daily, and although we watched them 

 closely, and with the most patient care, we never could see them touch the spiders again 

 until the usual interval of about a fortnight had elapsed, when they attacked them again 

 as vigorously as ever ; but the foray of one morning seemed to suffice. We observed 

 them carefully, to ascertain whether they ate any other insect than these spiders ; but, 

 although we brought them every variety of the smallest and most tender insects that we 

 could find, they did not entice them at all. But if we could shut them up past the time, 

 until they began to look drooping, and then bring one of those little spiders along with 

 other small insects, they would snap up the spider soon enough, but pay no attention to 

 the others." 



The writer then proceeds to remark, as the result of his experiments, that the chief 

 part of their diet consists of nectar, but that they require a feed of insects at certain 

 inten^als in order to preserve them in health. He furtliermore observes that the birds 

 could not live upon an exclusive diet of insects or of honey, and thinks that they do not 

 eat any creatures except small spiders. Here, however, he seems to be too hasty in his 

 conclusions, as Mr. Davison has discovered the wings of small flies in the stomach of 

 King's Humming-bird, floating in a yellow fluid. In many of the birds which he shot 

 and opened, the stomach was nearly filled with a black mass of insects. 



There are some Humming-birds which are very open in their manner of capturing 

 insects, and are fond of perching upon a twig, darting at a passing insect and returning to 

 the same perch, as has been related of some of the trogons, and various other birds. 

 They seem to inherit a singular affection for the twig which they have chosen, and may 

 be found day after day in precisely the same spot. 



In order to enable the Humming-bird to extract the various substances on which it 

 feeds from the interior of the flowers, the beak is always long and delicate, and in shape 

 is extremely variable, probably on account of the particular flower on which the bird feeds. 

 In some instances the bill is nearly straight, in others it takes a sharp sickle-Hke 

 downward curve, while in some it possesses a double curve. The general form of the 

 beak is, however, a very gentle downward curve, and in all instances it is pointed at its 

 extremity. At the base the upper mandible is wider than the lower, which is received 

 into its hollow. Their nostrils are placed at the base of the beak, and defended by a little 

 scale-like shield. 



The plumage is very closely set on the body, and is possessed of a metallic briUiancy 

 in every species, the males being always more gorgeously decorated than their mates. 

 The tail is composed of ten feathers, although in several species some of the feathers are 

 so slightly developed that they can hardly be seen under the larger rectrices, and, in 

 consequence, their owner has been set down as possessing only six feathers in its tail. 



The tongue is a very curious structure, being extremely long, filamentous, and double 

 nearly to its base. At the throat it is taken up by that curious forked bony structure, 

 called the hyoid bone, the forks of which are enormously elongated, and passing under 

 the throat and round the head, are terminated upon the forehead. By means of this 

 structure, the Humming-bird is enabled to project the tongue to a great distance from 

 the biU, and to probe the inmost recesses of the largest flowers. If cut transversely, the 

 filaments of the tongue look as if they had been made of flat, horny parchment, and 

 partially rolled up. The sense of taste or touch, or both, must be extremely delicate in 

 the Humming-birds, for when they are feeding they cannot by any possibility see into 

 2. Q 



