286 BIRDS. 



the long and very slender bill, finely serrate ; the tongue, which is sus- 

 ceptible of protrusion, terminates in a little fork. They are small birds, 

 the males of which, during the pairing season, are ornamented with me- 

 talUc colours, approaching in lustre to those of the Humming-bird, of 

 which, in this respect, they are the representatives in the eastern conti- 

 nent, they being principally found in Africa and the Archipelago of India. 

 They live on the nectar of flowers, which they suck up with their bills ; 

 their disposition is lively, and their notes very agreeable. The beauty of 

 their plumage has made them a common ornament of our cabinets, but as 

 it is very different in both sexes during the winter, &c., it becomes an ex- 

 tremely difficult matter to characterize the species. 



The tail, in most of them, is equal*. 



In some, the two middle feathers are the longest in the malef . 



We may also distinguish those which have a straight bill, or one 

 that is nearly soj. 



Arachnothera, Temm. 



The long and arcuated bill of the Cinnyris, but stronger, and without 

 emargination ; the tongue short and cartilaginous ; they are only found in 

 the Archipelago of India, and feed on spiders§. 



Trochilus, Lin. 



The Colibris, or Humming-birds, so celebrated for the metallic lustre 

 of their plumage, and chiefly for those plates, brilliant as precious stones, 

 which are formed by scaly feathers of a peculiar structure, on their throat 

 or head, have a long slender biU, enclosing a tongue, which they can pro- 



* Certh. splendida, Sh. Vieill. 82;— C. caffra, Edw, 347;— C. superba. Vieill. 22:— 

 C. lotenia, Enl. 575, 2, 3, Vieill. 34; — ametystina, Vieill. 5 and 6; — chalybaa, Enl. 

 246, 3, Vieill. 10, 13, 18, 24, 34, 80:— omnfco/or, Seb. I, 69, 5 ;—caprea, Vieill. 23;— 

 purpurata, Edw. 265, Vieill. 11; — cyanocephala, \iei\\. 7; — Z. zeilonica, Enl. 576, 4, 

 Vieill. 29, 30; — dubia, Vieill. 8l;—senegalensis, VieiU. 8;—sperata, Enl. 246, 1, 2; 

 Vieill. 16, 32, of which the lepida of Sparm. 35, is the female; — madagascariensis, 

 Vieill. 18; — currucaria, Enl. 576, 3, Vieill. 31; — riibro-fusca, Vieill. 27 i—fuliginosa, 

 Vieill. 20;—maculata, Vieill. 21 i—venusta, Vieill. 79;— gutturalis, 578, 9;—Nectari- 

 7iia Solaris, Tem. Col. 341, 3;— ej-imia, Tern. Col. 138, 1, 2;—pectoraUs, Id. Col. 138, 

 3;— lepida, Lath. Col. 126, 1, and Vieill. Gal. 177, 2;—Hasselti, T. Col. 376, 3;— 

 coccinogaster, Tem. Col. 388, 3; — Cinn. eques, Less, and Garn. Voy. de la Coq. pi. 

 xxxi, f. 1 ; — javanica, Zool. 111. 121 ; some of which birds are probably mere varieties 

 of the others. 



t Certhia famosa, L., Enl. 83, \;—C. pulchella, Enl. 670, 1;— C. violacea, 670, 2; 

 the Siicrier cardinal, Vaill. Ap. 291; — the Sucrier figuier. Id. 293, f. 2; — Nectarinia 

 metaUica, Licht. Ruppel. pi. vii, and Col. 347, l\—Nect. mystacalis, T. Col. 126, 3;— 

 N. Kuhlii, T. Col. 376, 1, 2. 



X Cinnyris elegans, Vieill. Gal. 177, or Certh, rectirostris. Id. Ois. Dor. II, pi. 

 Ixxv. 



§ Arachnothera longirostra, Tem. Col. 84, 1 ; — A. inomata, Id. lb. 2. 



N. B. After all these distinctions, we have still to remove from the great genus 

 Certhia, the C. lunata, Vieill. 61;— C. Nova-Hollandia, J. White, New S. W. pi. 

 xvi andlxv; Vieill. 57 and 71; — C. australasiana, Vieill. 55; — C. carunculata, Vieill. 

 69, 70;— C. auriculata, Vieill. 85;— C. cocincinica, Enl. 642; Vieill. 77, 78;— C. spiza, 

 Enl. 578, 2, Edw. 25; — C. seniculus, Vieill. 50; — C. graculina, Vieill. 87;— C. goruck, 

 Vieill. 88;— C. carulea, Vieill. 83; — C. xatithotis, Vieill. 84;— C. melliiora, Vieill. 86; 

 which, by their emarginated bill and pencil-like tongue, are all Philedons. 



