FAILURE OF EXPERIMENTS. 



which soon followed the others. They were 

 mrred from insect food, and perished for want 

 of sustenance. Such, we suspect, will ever be 

 the fate of caged Humming-birds. 



Mr. Gosse was equally unfortunate in his at- 

 tempts to rear or domesticate the VERYAIN HUM- 

 MING-BIRD. Several times he enclosed a nest of 

 eggs in a gauzed cage, taken with the dam in the 

 act of sitting ; but she always forsook the nest, 

 took no notice of the eggs, and in no case survived 

 or twenty-four hours. Some which he captured 

 were turned into a room ; but their timidity was 

 extreme, and nothing could be done with them. 



Speaking of the mode of flight of this species, 

 le observes, that its wings vibrate with such 

 extraordinary velocity as to be visible only as a 

 semicircular film on' each side. " Neither of our 

 other species approaches either the rapidity or 

 extent of this oscillation ; and hence, with this 

 )ird alone (as regards the Jamaica species) does 

 the sound produced by the vibration of the wings 

 acquire the sharpness of an insect's hum. The 

 noise produced by the hovering of a POLTTMUS is 

 a whirring exactly like that of a wheel put into 

 rapid revolution by machinery. That of the VER- 

 VAIN species is a hum like that of a large bee." 



So far have we attempted to give a general 

 idea of the habits and economy of the Trochilida . 

 [n certain points there is a common agreement, 

 as, for example, rapidity of flight, insectivorous 

 appetite, and duality and colour of eggs. 



