238 



THE LITTLE FLAME-BEARER. 



Tlie wings are purple bro's^'n. The back is gold-green, with the exception of a bold bar 

 of pure white, which crosses the back and forms a patch on each flank. The middle of the 

 abdomen is black, the flanks are brown, and the under tail-coverts are greyish white. The 

 upper .surface of the tail is blue, the shafts of the middle feathers are white, and the remain- 

 ing feathers are vdiite at their bases and bro-\vn for the rest of their length. The uuder 

 surface of the tail is a bright steel-blue, and the shafts are white throughout their length. 



The female possesses no crest 

 and no elongated tail-feathers, and 

 bears a very curious resemblance 

 to the well-known insect termed 

 the Humming-bird Moth. 



Another curious example of 

 the same gemis may be found in 

 CoNVEES' Thoentail, a native of 

 Santa F6 de Bogota. 



This species is veiy beautiful 

 both in shape and colouring, and, 

 as in the case of the preceding 

 bird, the two sexes differ greatly 

 in appearance. In the male of 

 this bird the general colour is 

 green, a white bar running across 

 the lower end of the back, and 

 the tail-feathers being very long, 

 narrow and pointed. Their colour 

 is shining black, the shafts being 

 white. In the female the general 

 colour of the plumage resembles 

 that of the male, except that the 

 colours are not so brilliant, and the 

 throat is greyish white, covered 

 with brown-green spots. The tail 

 is veiy short, and is composed of 

 a series of rounded feathers of a 

 du.sky hue, and white at the tip. 

 Both the species are swift fliers, 

 and are said to resemble the 

 swallow when on the wing. 



On the extreme left of the 

 engraving on page 223, and about 

 half-way from the top, the reader 

 may observe a very small Himi- 

 ming-bird, remarkable for its 

 curious spiky tail and rich featheiy 

 gorget. This is the Little Flame- 

 BEAEER (SeIdsj)Jiorus scintilla), 

 one of several species which possess the fiery tuft of feathers from which they derive their 

 name of Flame-bearers. 



This species inhabits the inner side of the extinct volcano Chiriqui, in Veragua, at an 

 elevation of nine thousand feet aliove the level of the sea. It is a tiny bird, measuring 

 only two and a half inches iii length, and as it darts about the singular habitation in 

 •which it lives, its fiery gorget gleams with such a flaming crimson, that, as Mr. Gould 

 happily remarks, it seems to have caught the last spark from the volcano before it was 

 exting-uished. 



CONVERS' THORNTAIL.— Goil!(i»a Confers! 

 Male and Female. 



