170 GENERA AND SPECIES. 



one species, LePatagon, or Oiseau-mouche geant 

 Trochilus Gigas, described and figured in the 

 Naturalist's Library, Ornith. vol. ii. p. 50, pi. 3. 

 It is a native of the interior of Chile, and mea- 

 sures nearly 8 inches in total length being, in- 

 deed, a giant among its race. Its forked tail 

 and amplitude of wing prove it to be a bird of 

 most powerful flight. The beak is long, stout, 

 and straight ; plumage dull ; feet small. 



In Chile this bird is called Picaflor grande, 

 and according to Mr. Bridges, in Proc. Zool. Soc. 

 1843, p. 114, it is there found in all the inter- 

 mediate provinces. It is seen about Valparaiso 

 during the spring and summer months, feeding 

 on the flowers of Pourretia coarctata and Lobelia 

 polyphylla in preference to others. It generally 

 builds its nest near a little rivulet, frequently on 

 a solitary branch or twig over the water ; the 

 nest is beautifully constructed, and is composed 

 of the moss and the down of a species of Gra- 

 phalium. Eggs white; Iris dark brown. Catches 



From the Swift-like contour of this bird, with 

 its wings passing when closed beyond the tail, its 

 habit of catching insects on the wing might have 

 been readily predicted ; but it is always desirable 

 that theory should be confirmed by observation. 

 In our general account of the TrochilidaB, we 

 have already quoted Mr. Darwin's observations 

 relative to the powers of wing, and the mode of 

 flight of the Trochilus Gigas. 



