76 NIDIFICATION. 



LONG-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD (Trochilus Po- 

 lytmus, Naturalist's Library, vol. ii. p. 108), the 

 gem of Jamaican ornithology, as exquisite in 

 form as in brilliancy of plumage, makes the fol- 

 lowing observations :- " The Humming-birds in 

 Jamaica do not confine themselves to any parti- 

 cular season for nidification. In almost every 

 month of the year I have either found, or had 

 brought to me, the nests of Polytmus in occupa- 

 tion. Still, as far as my experience goes, they 

 are most numerous in June ; while Mr. Hill 

 considers January as the most normal period. 

 It is not improbable that two broods are reared 

 in a season. In the latter part of February, a 

 friend shewed me a nest of this species in a sin- 

 gular situation, but which I afterwards found to 

 be quite in accordance with its usual habits. It 

 was at Bognie, situated on the Bluefield Moun- 

 tain. About a quarter of a mile within the 

 woods, a blind path, choked up with bushes, de- 

 scends suddenly beneath an overhanging rock of 

 limestone, the face of which presents large pro- 

 jections and hanging points, encrusted with a 

 rough tuberculous sort of stalactite. At one 

 corner of the bottom there is a cavern, in which 

 a tub is fixed to receive water of great purity, 

 which perpetually drips from the roof, and which 

 in the dry season is a most valuable resource. 

 Beyond this, which is very obscure, the eye 

 penetrates to a larger area, deeper still, which 

 receives light from some other communication 





