HUMMING-BIRDS. 161 



HUMMING-BIRDS OR TROCHILID^E. 



" Bright Humming-bird of gem-like plumeletage, 

 By western Indians 'Living-Sunbeam' named." BAILEY, Mystic. 



THE wonderful little HUMMING-BIRDS are only found in America and the adjacent islands, 

 where they take the place of the sun-birds of the Old World. It is rather remarkable, that, as 

 yet, no Humming-birds have been discovered in Australia. 



These little winged gems are most capricious in their choice of locality, some being spread 

 over a vast range of country, while others are confined within the limit of a narrow belt of 

 earth, hardly more than a few hundred yards in width, and some refuse to roam beyond the 

 narrow precincts of a single mountain. Some of these birds are furnished with comparatively 

 short and feeble wings, and, in consequence, are obliged to remain in the same land through- 

 out the year, while others are strong of flight, and migrate over numerous tracts of country. 

 They gather most thickly in Mexico and about the equator, the number of species diminishing 

 rapidly as they recede from the equatorial line. 



The name of Humming-birds is given to them on account of the humming or buzzing 

 sound which they produce with their wings, especially while they are hovering in their curious 

 fashion over a tempting blossom, and feeding on its contents, while suspended in air. This 

 name is so appropriate that it holds good in other languages, and expressive titles have been 

 given to these birds which are either descriptive of the sound, or endeavor to imitate it. So 

 characteristic is this humming sound, that it is not precisely the same in any two species, and 

 in many instances is so very decided in its tone, that a practised and observant ear can often 

 detect the species of a Humming-bird by the sound which it produces in flight. For example, 

 Mr. Gosse records that the Black-capped Humming-bird produces a noise exactly like the 

 whizzing of a wheel driven by machinery, while that of another species is very like the dron- 

 ing hum of a large bee. 



The number of species of these birds is truly wonderful, as more than three hundred are 

 known and have been described, while new species are being continually discovered. It is 

 evident to any one who has examined these exquisite little birds, and studied the inexhaust- 

 ible variety of form and color which they exhibit, that many forms are yet wanting as links 

 needed to complete the chain of species, and thq,t in all probability there are in existence Hum- 

 ming-birds which possess forms quite as strange and colors quite as glowing as any of those 

 which have found a place in our collections. 



The legs of these birds are remarkably weak and delicate, and the wings are proportion- 

 ately strong, a combination which shows that the creatures are intended to pass more of their 

 time in the air than on foot. Even when feeding they very seldom trouble themselves to 

 perch, but suspend themselves in the air before the flower on which they desire to operate, and 

 with their long slender tongues are able to feed at ease without alighting. In the skeleton, 

 especially in the shape of the breast-bone and wings, as well as in the comparative small size 

 of the feet, the Humming-birds bear some analogy to the swifts, and, like those birds, never 

 lay more than two eggs. 



The flight of these birds is inconceivably rapid, so rapid indeed that the eye cannot follow 

 it when the bird puts forth its full speed ; and with such wonderful rapidity do the little 

 sharp-cut wings beat the air, that their form is quite lost, and while the bird is hovering near 

 a single spot, the wings look like two filmy gray fans attached to the sides. While darting 

 from one flower to another the bird can hardly be seen at all, and it seems to come suddenly 

 into existence at some spot, and as suddenly to vanish from sight. Some Humming-birds are 

 fond of towering to a great height in the air, and descending from thence to their nests or to 

 feed, while others keep near the ground, and are seldom seen at an elevation of many yards. 



The food of the Humming-birds is much the same as that of the honey-suckers, except, 

 perhaps, that they consume more honey and fewer flies. Still, they are extremely fond of 



Vol. tt-21. 



