1834-] HUMMING-BIRDS. 197 



it utters when concealed amongst the bushes, are as strange as its 

 appearance. It is said to build its nest in a deep hole beneath the 

 ground. I dissected several specimens ; a gizzard, which was very 

 muscular, contained beetles, vegetable fibres, and pebbles. From this 

 character, from the length of its legs, scratching feet, membranous 

 covering to the nostrils, short and arched wings, this bird seems in a 

 certain degree to connect the thrushes with the gallinaceous order. 



The second species (or P. albicollis) is allied to the first in its general 

 form. It is called Tapacolo, or " cover your posterior ; " and well 

 does the shameless little bird deserve its name ; for it carries its tail 

 more than erect, that is, inclined backwards towards its head. It is 

 very common, and frequents the bottoms of hedge-rows, and the bushes 

 scattered over the barren hills, where scarcely another bird can exist. 

 In its general manner of feeding, of quickly hopping out of the thickets 

 and back again, in its desire of concealment, unwillingness to take 

 flight, and nidification, it bears a close resemblance to the Turco ; but 

 its appearance is not quite so ridiculous. The Tapacolo is very crafty: 

 when frightened by any person, it will remain motionless at the bottom 

 of a bush, and will then, after a little while, try with much address to 

 crawl away on the opposite side. It is also an active bad, and con- 

 tinually making a noise ; these noises are various and strangely odd ; 

 some are like the cooing of doves, others like the bubbling of water, and 

 many defy all similes. The country people say it changes its cry five 

 times in the year according to some change of season, I suppose.* 



Two species of humming-birds are common ; Trochilus forficatus is 

 found over a space of 2,500 miles on the west coast, from the hot dry 

 country of Lima, to the forests of Tierra del Fuego where it may be 

 seen flitting about in snow-storms. In the wooded island of Chiloe, 

 which has an extremely humid climate, this little bird, skipping from 

 side to side amidst the dripping foliage, is perhaps more abundant than 

 almost any other kind. I opened the stomachs of several specimens, 

 shot in different parts of the continent, and in all remains of insects 

 were as numerous as in the stomach of a creeper. When this species 

 migrates in the summer southward, it is replaced by the arrival of 

 another species coming from the north. This second kind (Trochilus 

 gigas) is a very large bird for the delicate family to which it belongs : 

 when on the wing its appearance is singular. Like others of the genus, 

 it moves from place to place with a rapidity which may be compared to 

 that of Syrphus amongst flies, and Sphinx among moths ; but whilst 

 hovering over a flower, it flaps its wings with a very slow and powerful 

 movement, totally different from that vibratory one common to most of 

 the species, which produces the humming noise. I never saw any other 

 bird, where the force of its wings appeared (as in a butterfly) so 



* It is a remarkable fact, that Molina, though describing in detail all the 

 birds and animals of Chile, never once mentions this genus, the species of 

 which are so common, and so remarkable in their habits. Was he at a loss 

 how to classify them, and did he consequently think that silence was the 

 more prudent course ? It is one more instance of the frequency of omissions 

 by authors, on those very subjects where it might have bei least expected. 



