THE GREEN HKUMMING-BIRD. 69 
THE GREEN HUMMING-BIRD. 
* Rursus in arma feror.”’ Virg. Zineid. 
Proressor Rennie says, in his “ Plan of Study,” 
that “in tropical climates where the heat is great, 
such domed nests are very common; and are pro- 
bably intended to protect the mother bird, while 
hatching, from the intense heat of a perpendicular 
sun.’ How well this theory suits the study! how 
ill it accords with facts in the field of nature ! Should 
the Professor ever go to Guiana, he will see, in the 
vast wet savannas of that far-extending region, that 
the little green humming-bird, not much larger than 
an humble bee, always makes its nest upon the dried 
twig of a small, straggling, ill-thriving bush. There 
is not one solitary leaf near the dried twig, to screen 
the bird from the rising, the noonday, or the setting 
sun. Nevertheless, this little delicate creature sits 
on its hemispherical nest, exposed to the downward 
rays of the fiery luminary, without the least appa- 
rent inconvenience. If, then, the tender little green 
humming-bird can sit all day long exposed to such 
an intense heat, surely the larger birds, such as the 
bunya or cassique, surpassing our magpie in size, 
cannot be supposed to make a dome to their nests, 
in order to protect their tough and hardy bodies 
from the rays of a tropical sun. I think this fact of 
the incubation of the green humming-bird tends to 
place the Professor’s theory of domed nests amongst 
his ‘little errors.” 
F 3 
