496 Mr. E. Gibson on the Oniitholojjy of [Ibis, 



and leaves towards the end of August, these movements 

 synchronising very nearly with its Glittering congener, 

 which arrives on the 10th of September and leaves early 

 in April. During all my long years' records the winter 

 visitor figures but rarely ; many years are an absolute 

 blank. 



240. Chlorostilbon splendidus Vicill. Glittering Hum- 

 ming-bird. 



The Splendid or Glittering Humming-bird arrives some- 

 times as early as the 10th or 11th of September, but is 

 not generally in evidence until the beginning of October. 

 Towards the end of March it is scarce, and has definitely 

 left by tlie middle of April. 



It is not in my power to add to J\Ir. Hudson's description 

 of its appearance and habits, and I will confine myself to a 

 few additional notes upon its local nesting-customs. Only 

 of late years have I found it taking advantage of the eaves 

 of a dwelling-house, as (lescril)ed by Miss Runnacles ; our 

 billiard-room, where there are some projecting ends of 

 wire which tie down the French tiles, and which has an 

 eastern exposure, is a favourite site. The verandah of my 

 liouse, clothed with creepers, has also an annual pair, and 

 visitors to our afternoon tea-table never fail to be charmed 

 with the dainty nest suspended from a jasmine-twig only a 

 few feet overhead ; the tiny tail of the occupant is seen over 

 the one side, aiul on the other rests the head (the crimson 

 bill projecting upwards), while the little black eyes calmly 

 survey the movements of the liuman group. The interiors 

 of two arbours in the garden are occasionally favoured, the 

 nests being attached to a bamboo stem or a honeysuckle 

 spray. But my former researches — the result of long 

 experience — invariably led me to inspect certain young 

 Coronillo trees (a densely-foliaged evergreen) in small and 

 open glades in the woods, where, just inside the thick 

 umbrella-like top (and always on the eastern or sunny side) 

 and suspended sometimes only two or three feet from the 



