44 LOCAL EAKGE. 



the terrestrial Orchideae, we have observed the 

 Altensteinia paleacea, near Lloa Chiquito, at the 

 foot of the volcano of Pichincha." To these 

 plants we may add Pitcairnias, which, in the 

 Andes, grow out of clefts in the rocks ; the great 

 Pournetia pyramidata (the Atschupalla of the 

 elevated plains of New Granada), the Agave, 

 BromeliaSy and Euphorbiacece, with hundreds be- 

 sides, which we have no occasion here to enu- 

 merate. 



It is on the slopes of the Andes and their 

 great land-spurs, so luxuriant in vegetation, a 

 vegetation moreover of a peculiar character, that 

 the richest and finest Humming-birds are to be 

 found ; it is there, too, that the greatest diver- 

 sity of form prevails. But it is not only on the 

 slopes of the Andes that the Trochilidce swarm; 

 they abound equally in the low lands, each 

 species having its own especial range of habitat. 

 Some species, for example, comparatively feeble 

 in flight, less active in habits than others, and 

 with small bills, tenant the open glades of the 

 deep forest, where the flowers of various lianes 

 or twining plants, as Paullinias, Banisterias, 

 Bignonias, and Passifloras offer them their due 

 supply. Other species are peculiar to deep shel- 

 tered gorges or valleys, where the foliage is ruf- 

 fled by no breath of wind, where the leaves seem 

 to sleep in a still and sultry atmosphere. Others 

 of more powerful flight, bold and active, brave 

 the snow-clad mountains of Chimborazo, Pi- 



