342 



THE HUMMING-BIRD. 



kept away from this kind of diet soon pine away, in spite of unlimited 

 supplies of syrup and other sweet food. 



In order to enable the Humming-bird to extract the various sub- 

 stances on which it feeds from the interior of the flowers, the beak is 

 always loug and delicate, and in shape is extremely variable, probably 



on account of the 

 particular flowers on 

 which the bird feeds. 

 In some instances 

 the bill is nearly 

 straight, in others it 

 takes a sharp sickle- 

 like downward curve, 

 while in some it pos- 

 sesses a double curve. 

 The general form of 

 the beak is, however, 

 a very gently down- 

 ward curve, and in 

 all instances it is 

 pointed at its ex- 

 tremity. At the 

 base the upper man- 

 HuMMiNG-BiRDs. ^i^lc is widcr than 



the lower, which is received into its hollow. The nostrils are placed at 

 the base of the beak, and defended by a little scale-like shield. 



The plumage is set very closely on the body, and is possessed of a 

 metallic brilliancy in every species, the males being always more gor- 

 geously decorated than their mates. 



The tongue is a very curious structure, being extremely long, fil- 

 amentous, and double nearly to its base. At the throat it is taken up 

 by that curious forked bony structure called the hyoid bone, the forks 

 of which are enormously elongated, and, passing under the throat and 

 round the head, are terminated upon the forehead. By means of this 

 structure the Humming-bird is enabled to project the tongue to a great 

 distance from the bill, and to probe the inmost recesses of the largest 

 flowers. The common woodpecker has a very similar description of 

 tongue, and employs it in a similar manner. 



In their habits the Humming-birds are mostly diurnal, although 

 many species are seen only at dawn and just after sunset. Many, in- 

 deed, live in such dense recesses of the tropical woods that the beams of 

 the sun never fairly penetrate into their gloomy depths, and the Hum- 

 ming-bird dwells in a permanent twilight beneath the foliage. It is 

 worthy of notice that the name Trochilidse is not a very apt one, as the 



