THE HUMMING-BIRD. 



165 



sected, are formed within like other birds ; 

 and seem to offer no observable variety. In- 

 deed, that they do not hide themselves under 

 water, has been pretty well proved by the 

 noted experiment of Frisch, who tied several 

 threads, dyed in water colours, round the legs 

 of a great number of swallows that were pre- 

 paring for their departure ; these, upon their 

 return the ensuing summer, brought their 

 threads back with them, no way damaged in 

 their colour ; which they most certainly would, 

 if, during the winter, they had been steeped 

 in water : yet still this is a subject on which 

 we mast suspend our assent, as Klein, the 

 naturalist, has brought such a number of 

 proofs in defence of his opinion, that swallows 

 are torpid in winter, as even the most credu- 

 lous must allow to have some degree of pro- 

 bability. 



CHAP. VI. 



THE HUMMING-BIRD, AND ITS VARIETIES. 1 



HAVING given some history of the manners 

 of the most remarkable birds of which ac- 



observant naturalist, however, may sometimes hear them 

 when he cannot see them. Their departures may also 

 occasionally be witnessed, and their preparations for de- 

 parture still more frequently. In a note to his " Sacred 

 History of the World,' Mr Sharon Turner, some other 

 of whose quotations in illustration of the general subject 

 we have adopted, quotes the following from the " Berks 

 Chronicle," descriptive of the migratory movement 

 which took place in October, 1829: 



" We have had sharp frosts during the week, and 

 large flights of plovers and teams of wild ducks and 

 geese have passed hence in a northern direction. On 

 Wednesday morning last the roofs of all the higher 

 ranges of houses in Prospect Street in this town (Read- 

 ing) were covered with thousands of the swallow tribe, 

 which had there assembled preparatory to their annual 

 migration to a warmer climate. From this chirping 

 and fluttering about, they seemed to be in grand debate; 

 and about nine o'clock the larger division departed in a 

 south-west direction, and was afterwards followed by the 

 others. The morning was remarkably fine and cheer- 

 ing, and the little emigrants were pluming th< ir wings 

 soon after sunrise, preparing, as it were, for their long 

 voyage and still dubious destination." 



1 Birds of South America. Though least in size, the 

 glittering mantle of the humming-bird entitles it to the 

 first place in the list of the new world. It may truly be 

 called the bird of Paradise; and had it existed in the 

 old world, would have claimed the title, instead of the 

 bird which has now the honour to bear it. See it dart- 

 ing through the air, almost as quick as thought ! now 

 it is within a yard of your fire ! in an instant it is 

 gone ! now it flutters from flower to flower to sip the 

 silver dew it is now a ruby now a topaz now an 

 emerald now all burnished gold, Cayenne and Deme- 

 rara produce the same humming-birds. Perhaps you 

 would wish to know something of their haunts. Chiefly 

 in the months of July and August the tree called Bois 

 Immortel, very common in Demerara, bears abundance 



counts can be obtained, I might now go to a 

 very extensive tribe, remarkable for the splen- 

 dour and the variety of their plumage : but 

 the description of the colours of a beautiful 



of red blossoms, which stays on the trees some weeks: 

 then it is that most of the humming-birds are very 

 plentiful. The wild red sage is also their favourite 

 shrub, and they buzz like bees round the blossom of the 

 Wallaba tree. Indeed, there is scarce a flower in the 

 interior or on the sea-coast, but what receives frequent 

 visits from one or other of the species. On entering the 

 forest on the rising land in the interior, the blue and 

 green, the smallest brown, no bigger than the humble 

 bee, with two long feathers in the tail, are to be seen. 

 As you advance towards the mountains of Demerara, 

 other species of humming-birds present themselves. It 

 seems to be an erroneous opinion that the humming- 

 bird lives entirely on the honey-dew. Almost every 

 flower of the tropical climates contains insects of one 

 kind or other; now the humming-bird is most busy 

 about the flowers an hour or two before sunrise, and 

 after a shower of rain ; and it is just at this time that 

 the insects come out to the edge of the flower, in order 

 that the sun's rays may dry the nocturnal dew and rain 

 which they have received. On opening the stomach of 

 the humming-bird, dead insects are found there. 



Next to the humming-birds, the cotingas display the 

 gayest plumage. They are of five species. Perhaps 

 the scarlet cotinga is the richest of the five, and is one 

 of those birds which are found in the deepest recesses 

 of the forest. His crown is flaming red ; to this ab- 

 ruptly succeeds a dark shining brown, reaching half way 

 down the back ; the remainder of the back, the rump, 

 and tail, the extremity of which is edged with black, 

 are a lovely red ; the belly is somewhat lighter red; the 

 breast reddish black ; the wings brown. He has no 

 song, is solitary, and utters a monotonous whistle which 

 sounds like " quet." He is fond of the seeds of the 

 hitia tree, and those of the siloaboli trees. The purple- 

 throated cotinga has black wings, and every other part 

 a light and glossy blue, save the throat, which is purple. 

 The pompadour cotinga is entirely purple, except his 

 wings, which are white, their first five feathers tipped 

 with brown. The fifth species is the celebrated cam- 

 panero of the Spaniards, called dara by the Indians, and 

 bell-bird by the English. He is about the size of the 

 jay. His plumage is white as snow. On his forehead 

 rises a spiral tube nearly three inches long. It is jet 

 black, dotted all over with small white feathers. It has 

 a communication with the palate, and, when filled with 

 air, looks like a spire; when empty, it becomes pen- 

 dulous. His note is loud and clear, like the sound of a 

 bell, and may be heard at the distance of three miles. 

 In the midst of these extensive wilds, generally on the 

 dried top of an aged mora, almost out of gun reach, you 

 will see the campaneros. No sound or song from any 

 of the winged inhabitants of the forest, not even the 

 clearly pronounced "whip-poor-wills" from the goat- 

 sucker, cause such astonishment as the toll of the cam- 

 panero. With many of the feathered race, he pays the 

 tribute of a morning and evening song, and even when 

 the meridian sun has shut in silence the mouth of almost 

 the whole of animated nature, the campanero still cheers 

 the forest. You hear his toll, and then a pause again, 

 and then a toll again, and again a pause. Then he is 

 silent for six or eight minutes, and then another toll, 

 and so on. He is never seen to feed with the other 

 cotingas, nor is it known in what part of Guiana he 

 makes his nest. 



Whilst the cotingas attract your attention by their 

 superior plumage, the singular form of the toucan makes 

 a lasting impression on your memory. There are three 

 species of toucans in Demerara, and three diminutives, 



