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703 



idea of the form of one of these tropic gems, 

 painted against the sky. 1 have observed 

 all our three species at one time engaged in 

 sucking the blossoms of the moringa at Con- 

 tent ; and have noticed that whereas Polyt- 

 mus and Mango expand and depress the tail, 

 when hovering before flowers, Humilis, on 

 the contrary, for the most part erects the 

 tail, but not invariably. The present is the 

 only Humming-bird that I am acquainted 

 with, that has a real song. Soon after sun- 

 rise in the spring months, it is fond of sitting 

 on the topmost twig of some mango or orange 

 tree, where it warbles, in a very weak but 

 very sweet tone, a continuous melody, for 

 ten minutes at a time : it has little variety. 

 The others have only a pertinacious cliirp- 

 ing." 



" One day in June," observes Mr. Oosse, 

 while speaking of their mode of nidification 

 in the zig-zag terraces cut in the mountain 

 roads of Jamaica, " I found two nests at- 

 tached to twigs of bamboo, and one just 

 commenced. Two parallel twigs were con- 

 nected together by spiders' webs, profusely ' 

 but irregularly stretched across, and these 

 held a layer of silk-cotton, which just filled 

 up the space (.about an inch square) between 

 them. This was the base. The others were 

 complete cups of silk-cotton exceedingly ' 

 compact and neat, ornamented outside with | 

 bits of gray lichen, stuck about. Usually 

 the nest is placed on a joint of a bamboo 

 branch, and the diverging twigs are em- 

 braced by the base. The nest is about the 

 size of half a walnut-shell, if divided not ! 

 lengthwise, but transversely. To see the 

 bird sitting in this tiny structure is amusing. ! 

 The head and tail are both excluded, the | 

 latter erect like a wren's : and the bright ' 

 eyes glance in every direction. One of these j 

 contained two eggs, the other a single young i 

 one nearly fledged." * * * " Several times 

 I have enclosed a nest of eggs in a gauzed ! 

 cage, with the dam, taken in the act of sit- | 

 ting i but in no case did she survive twenty- 

 four hours' confinement, or take the slightest ! 

 notice of her nest. When engaged in the 

 attempt to domesticate a colony of Polytnus, 

 an opportunity offered to add this minute 

 species to my aviary. For at that time two 

 large tamarind-trees very near the house ] 

 were in full blossom, and round them the ! 

 Vervain Humming-bird was swarming. ! 

 They flocked together like bees, and the air ! 

 resounded with their humming, as if in the 

 neighbourhood of a hive. We caught several 

 of them with the net, but could make nothing 

 of them; they were indomitably timid. When 

 turned into the room, they shot away into 

 | the loftiest angle of the ceiling, and there 

 hovered motionless, or sometimes slowly 

 turning as if on a pivot, their wings all the 

 time vibrating with such extraordinary ve- 

 locity as to be visible only as a semicircular 

 film on each side." * * * " The spirit of 

 ' curiosity is manifested by this little bird as 

 l well as by the larger species. When struck 

 at, it will return in a moment, and peep into 

 the net, or hover just in front of one's face." 

 The magnificent work of Mr. Gould on this 

 family, and the no less elegant and admir- 

 able book of M. Bourcier, will leave little to 



be done in the illustration of the memben 

 of this " angelically graceful group." 



TROOON. (Cwruetn.) A genus of Scan- 

 eorial birds, mostly inhabitants of South 

 America. They differ so much in the various 

 stage* of growth, that it has caused consider- 

 able confusion of species ; but as they all 

 agree in their general habits of life, the de- 

 scription of one will suffice TKOOOX Cu- 

 KCCD.I. This bird is ten inches and a half in 

 length : beak pale yellow, the under man- 

 dible armed with stiff black bristles ; head, 

 neck, back, rump, and upper tail-coverts 

 shining green, with a blue gloss in certain 

 lights ; wing-coverts bluish-gray, marked 

 with many undulating black lines ; quills 

 black, with part of the shafts white ; the 

 breast, belly, sides, and under tail-coverts of 

 a beautiful red ; thighs dusky ; upper surface 

 of the tail green, except the three outer 

 feathers, which are blackish, and crossed 

 with narrow transverse lines of gray ; tail 

 wedge-shaped ; legs brown. It is a very 

 solitary bird, being found only in the thickest 

 forests ; and in the pairing time the male has 

 a very melancholy note (by which his huunta 

 are discovered ), which is never uttered at uny 

 other time than while the female is sitting, 

 for as soon as the young make their ap|>car- 

 ance he becomes again perfectly mute. They 

 begin to pair in April, and build in the hole 

 of a rotten tree, laying three or four white 

 eggs, about the size of a pigeon's, on the de- 

 cayed dust, or if there be no dust, they bruise 

 the sound wood into powder by means of 

 their strong bill. The young when first 

 hatched are quite destitute of feathers ; the 

 head disproportionately large, and the lees 

 very long: the old birds feed them with small 

 worms, caterpillars, and insects ; and when 

 able to shift for themselves, desert them and 

 return to their solitary haunts till August or 

 September ; when they are again instinc- 

 tively prompted to produce another brood. 

 To this genus belongs the gorgeous long- 

 tailed Trogon or Quesal, the feathers of 

 which were allowed to be worn only by 

 Mexicans of the highest rank in former 

 times. 



Mr. Edwards thus speaks of those he saw 

 while pursuing his voyage up the Amazon. 

 " There were half a dozen varieties, differing 

 in size from the T. viridis, a small species 

 whose body was scarcely larger than many 

 of our sparrows, to the Curucua grande (Ca- 

 lurus auricepa), twice the size of a jay. All 

 have long spreading tails, and their dense 

 plumage makes them appear of greater size 

 than the reality. They are solitary birds ; 

 and early in the morning, or late in the after- 

 noon, may be observed sitting, singly or in 

 pairs, some species upon the tallest trees, and 

 others but a few feet above the ground, with 

 tails outspread and drooping, watching for 

 passing insects. Their appetites appeased, 

 they spend the remainder of the day in the 

 shade, uttering at intervals a mournful note, 

 well imitated by their common name, curu- 

 qun. This would betray them to the hunter, 

 but they are great ventriloquists, and it is 

 often impossible to discover them, uithoiiu'li 

 they ure directly above one's head. The 



