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A MANGO HUMMING-BIRD had, everyday, 

 and all day long, been paying his devoirs to 

 these charming blossoms. On the morning 

 to which I allude, another came, and the 

 manoeuvres of these two tiny creatures be- 

 came highly interesting. They chased each 

 other through the labyrinth of twigs and 

 flowers, till, an opportunity occurring, the 

 one would dart with seeming fury upon the 

 other, and then, with a loud rustling of their 

 wings, they would twirl together, round and 

 round, until they nearly came to the earth. 

 It was some time before I could see, with 

 any distinctness, what took place in these 

 tussles ; their tivirlings were so rapid as to 

 baffle all discrimination. At length an en- 

 counter took place pretty close to me, and I 

 perceived that the beak of the one grasped 

 the beak of the other, and thus fastened, 

 both whirled round and round in their per- 

 pendicular descent, the point of contact being 

 the centre of the gyrations, till, when another 

 second would have brought them both on 

 the ground, they separated, and the one 

 chased the other for about a hundred yards, 

 and then returned in triumph to the tree, 

 where, perched on a lofty twig, he chirped 

 monotonously and pertinaciously for some 

 time; I could not help thinking, in de- 

 fiance. In a few minutes, however, the ba- 

 nished one returned, and began chirping no 

 less provokingly, which soon brought on 

 another chase and other tussle. I am per- 

 suaded that these were hostile encounters, 

 for one seemed evidently afraid of the other, 

 fleeing when the other pursued, though his 

 indomitable spirit would prompt the chirp 

 of defiance ; and, when resting after a battle, 

 I noticed that this one held his beak open 

 as if panting. Sometimes they would sus- 

 pend hostilities to suck a few blossoms, but 

 mutual proximity was sure to bring them 

 on again, with the same result. In their 

 tortuous and rapid evolutions, the light from 

 their ruby necks would now and then flash 

 in the sun with gem-like radiance ; and as 

 they now and then hovered motionless, the 

 broadly-expanded tail, whose outer feathers 

 are crimson-purple, but when intercepting 

 the sun's rays transmit orange-coloured 

 light, added much to their beauty. A little 

 Banana Quit, that was peeping among the 

 blossoms in his own quiet way, seemed now 

 and then to look with surprise on the com- 

 batants i but when the one had driven his 

 rival to a longer distance than usual, the 

 victor set upon the unoffending Quit, who 

 soon yielded the point, and retired, humbly 

 enough, to a neighbouring tree. The war, 

 for it was a thorough campaign, a regular 

 succession of battles, lasted fully an hour, 

 and then I was called away from the post 

 of observation. Both of the Humming-birds 

 appeared to be adult males." 



In an earlier part of the same article, our 

 author observes that the interior of flowers 

 is almost always inhabited by very small 

 insects, and that he believes it is principally 

 to pick out these that the Humming-birds 

 probe the tubular nectaries of blossoms. That 

 they also pursue flies on the wing seems, 

 however, no less certain ; for he has often 

 seen the Mango, just before night-fall, flut- 



I tering round the top of a tree on which were 

 j no blossoms, and from the manner in which 

 it turned hither and thither, while hovering 

 in a perpendicular position, it was manifest 

 that it was catching minute insects. This 

 species (he says) when flying often flirts and 

 flutters the tail in a peculiar manner, throw- 

 ing it in as he hangs perpendicularly in mid 

 air, when the appearance of the broad lus- 

 trous feathers, expanded like a fan, is par- 

 ticularly beautiful. The length of the Mango 

 Humming-bird is rather more than five 

 inches ; and in expanse it somewhat exceeds 

 seven inches. 



The VERVAIN HUMMING-BIRD. (Nellisuga 

 hum His}. The male of this species is about 

 two inches and a half in length, its wings 

 expanded being three and a half. The whole 

 upper parts of the plumage metallic green ; 

 wings purplish black, tail deep black ; chin 

 and throat, white speckled witli black ; breast 

 white ; sides metallic green ; belly whitish, 

 each feather tipped with green ; under tail- 

 coverts white, faintly tipped with green. 

 The female is rather less than the male ; 

 and of a yellower green above, which de- 

 scends half way down upon the tail : whole 

 under parts pure white, unspotted, and un- 

 tinged with green ; tail-feathers, except the 

 uropvgials, tipped with white. Irides, beak, 

 and feet black. 



" The West Indian Vervain (Stacliytar- 

 pheta)" as Mr. Gosse informs us," is one of 

 the most common weeds in neglected pas- 

 tures, shooting up everywhere its slender 

 columns, set around with blue flowers, to 

 the height of a foot. About these our little 

 Humming-bird is abundant during the sum- 

 mer months, probing the azure blossoms a 

 few inches from the ground. It visits the 

 spikes in succession, flitting from one to 

 another, exactly in the manner of the honey- 

 bee, and with the same business-like in- 

 dustry and application. In the winter, the 

 abundance of other flowers and the paucity 

 of vervain-blossoms, induce its attention to 

 the hedgerows and woods. I have some- 

 times watched, with much delight, the evo- 

 lutions of this little species at the moringa 

 tree. When only one is present, he pursues 

 the round of the blossoms soberly enough, 

 sucking as he goes, and now and anon sitting 

 quietly on a twig. But if two are about the 

 tree, one will fly off, and, suspending himself 

 in the air a few yards distant, the other pre- 

 sently shoots off to him, and then, without 

 touching each other, they mount upward 

 with a strong rushing of wings, perhaps for 

 five hundred feet. Then they separate, and 

 each shoots diagonally towards the ground, 

 like a ball from a rifle, and wheeling round, 

 comes up to the blossoms again, and sucks, 

 and sucks, as if it had not moved away at 

 all. Frequently one alone will mount in 

 this manner, or dart on invisible wing dia- 

 gonally upward, looking exactly like a 

 humble-bee. Indeed, the figure of the smaller 

 Humming-birds on the wing, their rapidity, 

 their arrowy course, and their whole manner 

 of flight, are entirely those of an in.-cct ; 

 and one who has watched the flight of a 

 large beetle or bee, will have a very good 



