148 INTRODUCTION. 



gems among their generally dull plumaged com- 

 panions. But according to the theory and prin- 

 ciples of representation, which have been of late 

 so much, and, we may say, successfully insisted 

 on in our various works devoted to Zoology, it 

 was to be expected that some portions of the Old 

 World, and more particularly those under the tro- 

 pics, would present forms bearing a close alliance in 

 their habits, and exhibiting some of the resplendent 

 colouring which so conspicuously marked the plu- 

 mage of the Humming-birds. And these expec- 

 tations, commenced by theory as a general law, 

 have been verified in this instance by facts, for the 

 continents of Asia and Africa are the strongholds 

 of another race of fairy birds which vie with the 

 Trochilidas in brilliancy ; and though they differ 

 in many of the essential parts of their structure, 

 they still agree by holding the same place in the 

 ornithological economy of the countries they in- 

 habit. 



The " SUN-BIRDS," deriving their appellation from 

 their brightly-tinted dress, appearing in higher splen- 

 dour when played on by the sun -beams, may be 

 said to be peculiarly restricted to the tropics of Asia 

 and Africa ; but when we take the form as a family, 

 we shall find it extending far beyond that range, 

 and reaching on the one hand to the numerous 

 islands in the Pacific Ocean, while in another direc- 

 tion a few members occur in South America and 

 the adjacent islands, in both instances forming the 

 exception in the amount of numbers ; the form 



