NIDIFICATIOtf. 73 



BLUE-HEADED HUMMING-BIB! (Trochilus pile- 

 atus), and observes, that it was as well covered 

 externally with moss, as is the nest of the Gold 

 finch and some other small European birds* All 

 the nests of the Trochilidse are, as we have seen, 

 by no means so substantially composed, for some 

 consist principally of thistle-down, cotton, and 

 delicate fibres. 



In some instances, whether from accidental 

 causes or the contrary does not seem very clear, 

 Humming-birds having made a shallow nest, ele- 

 vate its sides according to the growth of the 

 young, building up, as it were, a cradle for them. 

 The late Captain Lyon, E..JST., whose scientific 

 acquirements and habits of close observation 

 need no comment, thus writes to a friend in 

 England, his letter being dated Grongo Soco, 

 Brazil, March 17, 1829. " I am too closely con- 

 fined here, and too constantly occupied to attend 

 much to natural history, or to anything except 

 the mines ; but it may interest you to have an 

 account of some young Humming-birds, whose 

 hatching and education I studiously attended, as 

 the nest was made in a little orange bush by the 

 side of a frequented walk in my garden. It was 

 composed of the silky down of a plant, and 

 covered with small flat pieces of yellow lichen. 

 The first egg was laid January 26th, the second 

 on the 28th, and two little creatures like bees 

 made their appearance on the morning of Febru- 

 ary 14th. As the young increased in size, the 



