PEELIMINAET OBSEEVATIONS. 7 



probably the sag-sag of the Arabs, a species of 

 plover, or dotterel, allied to our ringed plover 

 (Charadrius Hiaticula of LinnaBtis), or to the 

 ^Egialites minor of Bonaparte (Charadrius minor 

 of Meyer) . 



At all events, it must be evident that the 

 name of Trochilus, as applied to the Humming- 

 birds, is ill chosen : nevertheless, it has been 

 adopted by modern zoologists, and has become, 

 as it were, so firmly established, that to change 

 it as a family title would lead only to confusion. 

 After all, what is there in a name ? 



Passing from Linnaeus to Cuvier, we find the 

 Humming-birds placed in the " Regne animal " 

 (Ed. 1829), under the great order Passereaux, 

 between the Sun-birds (Cinnyris) and the 

 Hoopoes (Vpupa L.). Cuvier makes short work 

 with them, and divides them into two sections 

 Les Colibris and Les Oiseaux-mouches ; his 

 preliminary observations, however, are very 

 graphic, although succinct : " These little birds 

 (he writes), so celebrated for the metallic splen- 

 dour of their plumage, and especially for the 

 discs (plaques) as brilliant as the precious gems, 

 which are formed on the throat or head by 

 means of scale-like feathers of a peculiar struc- 

 ture, have a long and slender beak, enclosing 

 a tongue capable of extension, almost like that 

 of the woodpecker's, by means of an analogous 

 mechanism. This tongue is divided almost 

 from its base into two filaments, which the bird 



