318 FOREIGN BIRDS. 



And one of form tiny might, too, be there seen, 

 Much less than a bee, deck'd in elegant green ; 

 But of gay, eastern Sun-Birds, ("*) in robes bright 



and fair, 

 And of manners congenial, not one was found there : 



Ornithology it appears similar to the goldfinch's, but, of course, 

 much smaller and neater. The note of this bird is a single chirp, 

 not louder than the grasshopper. It has been kept in confine- 

 ment in the United States for months : it is a mistake to sup- 

 pose that it feeds only on the nectar of flowers ; it feeds also on 

 insects. This bird is very fond of the flowers of the plant 

 called Balsamum noli me tangere, or Touch-me-not. It is found 

 in most of the warm and tropical regions of America. This 

 description is taken from Wilson's work; the bird is, I sus- 

 pect, the MoschituSf or Ruby-necked Humming-bird of 

 some other writers. 



The Superciliosus, or Supercilious Hummingbird, is one 

 of the largest of the tribe, being nearly six inches long, and in- 

 habits Cayenne. The Minimus^ or Le.vst-Hummingbird, 

 is green ; smaller than several of our bees, hardly a quarter of 

 an inch long ; weighs about twenty grains ; found in Brazil. 

 See note (42,) part 1, article Golden-crested-Wren. 



(*) Tenuirostres, Cinnj/rirffC, (Vigors); or, to anglicize the 

 terms, CiNNYRiD Tenuirosts — Sunbirus. 



The genus some time since established by Cuvier, and de- 

 nominated by him Cinnyris, has been lately brought into no- 

 tice in consequence of Mr. Vigors having arranged it as a 

 sub-family in his Tenuirostres ; and also by his having excited 

 the public attention to this group of birds in his late Lectures 

 at the Zoological Society. According to their habits, size, and 

 the statements of Mr. Vigors, they appear to supply the place 

 in the old world, of that numerous, airy, and splendid race of 

 birds in the new, so well known and so much admired under the 



