of the Equfitorittl eludes. Ill I 



ot' the lowlaiuls, the purph'-eared [Pefdsoji/iora iolftfii) ahiue 

 of the Quito speeies hangs its ue.st over a stream ot" water. 

 As to the materials ot" the nest, 1 have noticed a fact whicli 

 I camiot cxphiin : our northern Immmer glues lichens all 

 over the outside; so do a nundn-r of species in Brazil, 

 (ruiana, Sic; but in the valley of Quito, moss is invariably 

 used, not a particle of lichen have we seen on any nest, 

 though lichens abound*. ^Ir. (Jould mentions a nest which, 

 being heavier on one side than the other, was weighted with 

 a small stone to preserve the equilibrium. A few hummers, 

 as the Glaucis of the lowlands, lay but a single q^^ ; l)ut tlu^ 

 usual number is two; and they are always of a pinkish line 

 when freshly laid. The spotted egg of a species on the 

 Upper Amazon, noticed by Edwards, has not been seen by 

 other observers. The time of incubation at Quito is twelve 

 days, varying a day more or less, according to the weather. 

 There is but one brood a year, as with T. colubrts, in our 

 Northern States ; but in our Southern States, and in Brazil, 

 there are generally two. Drapiez says, "sometimes four 

 broods ;" but we conjocturo that this is a mistake. 



No insessorial bird seeks its food at so great an elevation 

 as the OreotrocJiifiisf. This has been seen clinging to the 

 volcanic cliffs of Chimborazo ; but no other hummer has 

 been observed to alight on the ground, for which, in fact, their 

 sharp, hooked nails are ill iitted. Of the sixteen genera re- 

 presented in the valley of' Quito, the average length of the 

 bill is three-fourths of an inch ; and the most numerous plants 

 are the Compositai, Scropiiulariacea^, and Labiata^. The 

 curved-billed Eutoxeres is usually seen around the fuchsias or 

 the scales of the palms, seeking for s])iders. The reotrochilus 

 feeds its young by bringing them flowers of the myrtle ; then 

 throwing them away, it goes for more. As Bates has said, 

 hummers " do not proceed in that methodical manner which 

 bees follow, taking the flowers scrudim^ but skip ab(iut from 

 one part of the tree to another in the most capricious way." 

 No other vertebrate has a tubular tongue, an organ adapted 

 for gathering both insects and honey f. No other fiimily of 

 birds contains so many species ; nor has any other group such 



* A similar variation is se'eii in the nests of the cliimney-swallows : 

 our species ( Chcetura pelasgia) builds t)f twiofs j^lued together with saliva ; 

 while its Quito representative (C. rutilu) builds of mud and moss. 



t We have seen flies on Pichinoha at tlie height of nearly 16,000 feet. 



X Dr. Crisp contends that the bifid portion of the tongue is not hollow, 

 but is composed of solid cartilaginous material. The same anatomist 

 also asserts, in opposition to the o})inion of Professor Owen, that the 

 bones of the hummer, like those of the swallow, do not contain air. 



