PRESERVATION IN CAPTIVITY. 89 



for any great length of time. They require in- 

 sects, of which, when in their natural state of 

 freedom, they devour great quantities ; in fact, 

 their stomach, when examined, is always found 

 to be replete with insect debris, and as digestion 

 proceeds the supply is incessantly kept up. 

 Indeed, when we consider the expenditure of 

 muscular energy, for these birds are almost 

 always on the wing, darting to and fro, we shall 

 at once see the necessity of ample refection, 

 both as it regards solid and liquid aliment. But 

 liquids alone will not maintain life for any length 

 of time, or a vigorous condition, and death from 

 starvation sooner or later takes place. Of this 

 fact Mr. Grosse repeatedly convinced himself; 

 for he found, on dissecting his captives which 

 died, that they were exceedingly meagre in flesh, 

 and that the stomach, which is ordinarily as 

 large as a pea, and distended with insects, was, 

 in these birds, shrunken to a minute collapsed 

 membrane, with difficulty distinguished. 



An abundant supply of the flowers which the 

 captives are found, by experience, to prefer, these 

 being repeatedly changed for fresh, from which 

 nectar and insects may be obtained in sufficient 

 abundance, affords the best chance of success ; 

 but this can only be done in their native locali- 

 ties, and then moreover not without considerable 

 trouble. But, in our island, granting that a few 

 survivors out of numbers captured in Jamaica, 

 reached our shore?, what in the way of food 



