30 HISTORY OF THE HUMMING BIRD. 



their crests, tails and wings expand they fight in the 

 air, uttering a shrill noise, till one falls exhausted to the 

 ground." 



Their nests are built with great delicacy, about one 

 inch in diameter, and as much in depth. They are gene- 

 rally fixed on the upper side of a horizontal branch, free 

 from twigs ; but in some instances have been known to be 

 attached on the side of an old moss-grown trunk; and 

 others where it was fastened on a strong, rank stock, or 

 weed, in the garden. 



It is generally acknowledged by our most popular 

 writers, that the humming-birds lay only two eggs, and 

 some species but one. This small fecundity, with the 

 many casualties which are liable to destroy them, the 

 vicissitudes of season, and the assaults of various animals, 

 birds, and even insects, will give the reader some idea in 

 what immense profusion these little birds exist, when two, 

 or at most, four, is the number of young reared in a season. 

 The eggs are not so small in proportion as one would 

 imagine on looking at the bird ; they are usually about 

 one-half inch in length, and from one-fourth, to three- 

 eighths of an inch in diameter. In shape, they are nearly 

 a complete oval, and of a pure, delicate white. The South 

 American humming-bird sits twelve days, and the young 

 leave their nest and follow their parent in eighteen days ; 

 the North American species, according to Audubon, hatches 

 only ten days, and the young are ready to fly in one 

 week. ^ 



The discovery of the violet-crowned humming-bird, is 

 said to be due to M. M. Lesson and Garnet, who met with 

 it during one of their voyages, and caused it to be figured 

 in a splendid volume, devoted to the Natural History of 

 that exhibition. 



It inhabits Chili, and was discovered in the woods sur- 

 rounding the Bay of Conception, near Talcaguano. They 



