with a Note on Trochilus aquila Bourcier. 141 



the spot where I stood, when it suddenly stopped in its 

 rapid course directly in front of a flower. There for a 

 moment poising itself in this position, it darted upon the 

 flower in a peculiar manner; in fact, the movements which 

 now followed of this little creature, were indeed exceed- 

 ingly curious to me. Instead of inserting its beak into the 

 calyx by advancing in a direct line towards the flower, as 

 customary with this class of birds according to my limited 

 observation, this one performed a curvilinear movement, at 

 first stooping forward while it introduced its beak into the 

 calyx, and then, when apparently the point of the beak had 

 reached the desired locality in the flower, its body suddenly 

 dropped downwards, so that it seemed as though it was 

 suspended from the flower by the beak. That this was not 

 actually the case, the continued rapid movement of its 

 wings demonstrated beyond a doubt. In this position it 

 remained the ordinary length of time, and then by performing 

 these movements in the reverse order and direction, it freed 

 itself from the flower, and afterwards proceeded to the adjoin- 

 ing one, when the same operation was repeated as already 

 described. 



" The flower from which it fed, and of which I gave you a 

 rude and imperfect sketch, is somewhat peculiar also in its 

 form, &c, and I will proceed to give you a slight description of 

 it. The plant belongs to the Palm species, and grows in low, 

 marshy places, on or near the margins of rivers and mountain 

 streams. It consists of a dozen or more straight stems, each of 

 which terminates above in a broad expanded leaf, that some- 

 what resembles the plantain. These stems all start from a 

 clump at the surface of the ground, but they immediately sepa- 

 rate, and slightly diverge from each other. The stems with the 

 leaf grow to the height of six to ten feet, more or less. From 

 one or two of the centre stems a flower-stalk puts forth, which 

 hangs pendent, and to this are attached alternately on either 

 side, the flowers, while the space between each corresponds 



