West-Indian Hamming -birds. 513 



This species is rather quarrelsome, the males chasing each 

 other about continually, flying at a marvellously rapid pace, 

 screaming shrilly the while. 



The female bird differs considerably from the male in 

 having no crest, a whitish-grey breast instead of dark blackish 

 grey, and the green on her upper plumage is rather more 

 inclined to a golden hue. 



Being so small, it was found difficult to shoot them with- 

 out spoiling them as specimens. I mostly used a 28-bore 

 gun, which, although really too large for being quite suc- 

 cessful as a Humming-bird gun, yet was a very useful all- 

 round weapon, as I was ready with it for birds of all sizes. 

 and on more than one occasion have returned from a hunt 

 with a Buzzard and one or two Humming-birds. For the 

 small quarry I cut down the cartridges to about an inch in 

 length, putting in a very small pinch of powder and a tiny 

 charge of ver}^ tine dust-shot, one thick felt wad between the 

 two, and a thin cardboard wad over the shot. Eveu with a 

 small charge like this it was very uncertain work, sometimes 

 blowing the Humming-bird all to pieces, and at other times, 

 at just as close or closer ranges, apparently missing it; 

 so I was never sure whether I was going to secure a decent 

 specimen or not. Of course the reason was that such a 

 small charge in a comparatively wide bore made a very uncer- 

 tain pattern, the bulk of the shot sometimes being on tlie 

 object and at others being all round it. A •JjlO gun or a 

 saloon pistol with dust-shot cartridges would have been a 

 better weapon. For part of my time in Dominica a gentle- 

 man there, Mr. A, Frampton, kindly lent me a •410 gun. 

 I cut the cartridges down very small, and found that it shot 

 Humming-birds very clean as a rule, and I obtained some 

 first-rate specimens with it. The Humming-birds that came 

 under my observation apparently did not begin to feed until 

 the sun was well up, and then as soon as a hillside is thrown 

 into shadow by the sun sinking behind it no more of these 

 birds will be seen, while on gloomy dull days they will not be 

 seen in such profusion as on a bright sunny day. Like butter- 

 flies, they seem to be about mostly in the hot rays of the sun. 



