PBELTMItfARY OBSEBYATIONS. 5 



plan of discovery, as far as these birds are con- 

 cerned, has never yet been put into practice. 

 And, moreover, when we find birds, or species 

 of a given group or family, very numerous, pre- 

 cise research for species not being called into 

 aid, we may reasonably expect, such research 

 being called into aid, that a reduplication of 

 species will be elicited. Thus, then, although 

 three hundred species are now cabinet-contained, 

 our knowledge of the group is very far from 

 being complete. Hence, therefore, we are slow 

 in obtaining a full grasp of the subject, and years 

 may pass over before that grasp is ample. 



Three hundred species ! what single group of 

 birds can compete numerically with that of the 

 Trochilidae ! Is this group a family, or is it an 

 order ? The structural peculiarities which these 

 birds display might justify us in considering it 

 as entitled to the rank of an order ; although 

 Linnaeus placed it at the end of his order Picas, 

 an order embracing the parrots, the toucans, 

 the hornbills, the crows, the rollers, the orioles, 

 the birds of paradise, the trogons, the barbets, 

 the cuckoos, the woodpeckers, the nuthatch, the 

 todies, the kingfishers, the bee-eaters, the 

 hoopoes, the creepers, and others a most dis- 

 cordant assemblage. Nor was he less unfortu- 

 nate in the name he selected for the genus, as 

 he regarded it, comprising the few species of 

 Humming-birds with which he was acquainted. 

 The word Trochilus (rpo\i\oe) is used by Aris- 



