36 TOICE AND SONG. 



added ; and, indeed, when we reflect upon the 

 structure of the tongue, of the os hyoides which 

 supports its base, and of the mechanism by 

 which it is rendered capable of protrusion, re- 

 membering that the os hyoides is connected with 

 the larynx, we cannot in reason suppose that 

 these birds can be eminent as songsters. Never- 

 theless it would appear that some species at 

 least utter, while perched, a sort of querulous 

 warble. 



The ordinary cry of the Humming-birds is 

 sharp and shrill, generally uttered on the wing, 

 and frequently reiterated by the males during 

 their combats with each other. It is princi- 

 pally, says Lesson, in passing from one place to 

 another, that their cry, which he likens to the 

 syllables tere-ttre, articulated with more or less 

 force, is excited. Most frequently, he says, 

 they are completely dumb ; and he adds, that he 

 has passed whole hours in observing them in 

 the forests of Brazil without having heard the 

 slightest sound proceed from their throats. 



Mr. Bullock, speaking of the TEOCHILUS 

 MINIMUS of Jamaica, notices its song as simple 

 and querulous. " The first of these minute crea- 

 tures, less in size than some of the bees, I ever 

 saw alive was," he says, " near the house of a 

 gentleman at Kingston. He had taken his sta- 

 tion on the twig of a large tamarind tree, which 

 was close to the house, and overspread part of 

 the yard ; there, perfectly indifferent to the 



