THE IirMMING BIRDS. 281 



defiance. In a few minutes, however, the banished one returned and began chirping 

 no less provokiugly, which soon brought on another chase and another tussle. I am 

 persuaded that these were hostile encounters, for one seemed evidently afraid of the 

 other, lleeing when the other pursued, though his indomitable spirit would prompt 

 the chirp of defiance; and when resting after a battle, I noticed that this one held 

 his beak open as if panting. Sometimes they would suspend hostilities to suck a 

 few blossoms ; but mutual proximity was sure to bring them on again, with the 

 same result. In their tortuous and rapid evolutions, the light from their ruby necks 

 would occasionally flash in the sun with gem-like radiance, and as they now 

 and then hovered motionless, the broadly-expanded tail, the outer feathers of 

 which are crimson-purple, but when intercepting the sun's rays transmit orange- 

 colored light, added much to their beauty. A little Banana Quit (Certhiola flaveola), 

 that was peeping among the blossoms in his own quiet way, seemed now and then to 

 look with surprise on the combatants; but when the one had driven his rival to a 

 longer distance than usual, the victor set upon the unoffending Quit, who soon 

 yielded the point, and retired humbly enough to a neighboring tree. The war (for 

 it was a thorough campaign, a regular succession of battles) lasted fully an hour, 

 and then I was called away from the post of observation. 



While invincible against other birds of whatsoever kind, Humming 

 Birds are, according to Mr. Gould, sometimes chased by the larger 

 kinds of bumblebees, of which they seldom take the least notice, as 

 their superiority of flight is sufficient to enable them to leave those 

 slow-moving insects far behind in the short space of a minute. 



INTELLIGENCE. 



Mr. Gould refers to the high order of intelligence " so nearly ap- 

 proaching to that of reason" possessed by Humming Birds, and others 

 add their testimony to that presented by him. This great intelligence 

 is most obvious in connection with their nesting, when some kinds, in 

 certain exigencies, seem really to possess a distinct knowledge of the 

 laws of equilibrium and gravitation, as the following will show: 



Some of the Humming Birds [says 'Mr. Gould] are said to suspend their great 

 nests by the middle from the fine hanging roots of a tree, or a tendril; and should 

 the nest, which is of a curved form and built of any coarse materials at hand, prove 

 to be heavier on one side than the other, the higher side is weighted with a small 

 stone or square piece of earth until an equilibrium is established and the eggs pre- 

 vented from rolling out. If such powers, so nearly approaching to that of reason, 

 should be doubted by some of my readers, I can assure them one or more of these 

 loaded nests are contained in the Loddigesian Collection, and one is at this moment 

 before me, an examination of which will satisfy the most skeptical of the truth of 

 this statement. Occasionally the old nests are repaired or [new ones are] built over 

 the old one, two, three, or more years in succession. 



The Humming Birds which thus display so much intelligence belong 

 to the genus Oreotrochilus, the species of which inhabit the higher 

 regions of the Andes immediately below the line of perpetual snow. 

 One of them, the Pichincha Humming Bird (Oreotrochilus pichincha), 

 builds a nest similar to that described above, but usually secures the 

 equilibrium of the nest by simply adding to the ordinary materials on 

 one side, thus by increasing the bulk on that side also adding to the 

 weight. * 



*A nest of this species is shown on plate VI, Fig. 2 



