1H34.] HUMMING-BIRDS. 259 



another bird can exist. In its general manner of feeding, of quickly 

 hopping out of the thickets and back again, in its desire of con- 

 cealment, unwillingness to take flight, and nidification, it bears a 

 close resemblance to the Turco ; but its appearance is not quite so 

 ridiculous. The Tapacolo is very crafty : when frightened by any 

 person, it will remain motionless at the bottom of a bush, and will 

 then, after a little while, try with much address to crawl away on 

 the opposite side. It is also an active bird, and continually making 

 a noise : these noises are various and strangely odd ; some are like 

 the cooing of doves, others like the bubbling of water, and many 

 defy all similes. The country people say it changes its cry five 

 times in the year according to some change of season, I suppose.* 

 Two species of humming-birds are common ; Trochilus forficatus 

 is found over a space of 2500 miles on the west coast, from the hot 

 dry country of Lima, to the forests of Tierra del Fuego where it 

 may be seen flitting about in snow-storms. In the wooded island 

 of Chiloe, which has an extremely humid climate, this little bird, 

 skipping from side to side amidst the dripping foliage, is perhaps 

 more abundant than almost any other kind. I opened the stomachs 

 of several specimens, shot in different parts of the continent, and 

 in all, remains of insects were as numerous as in the stomach of a 

 creeper. When this species migrates in the summer southward, 

 it is replaced by the arrival of another species coming from the 

 north. This second kind (Trochilus gigas) is a very large bird for 

 the delicate family to which it belongs: when on the wing its 

 appearance is singular. Like others of the genus, it moves from 

 place to place with a rapidity which may be compared to that of 

 Syrphus amongst flies, and Sphinx among moths ; but whilst 

 hovering over a flower, it flaps its wings with a very slow and 

 powerful movement, totally different from that vibratory one 

 common to most of the species, which produces the humming 

 noise. I never saw any other bird where the force of its wings 

 appeared (as in a butterfly) so powerful in proportion to the weight 

 of its body. When hovering by a flower, its tail is constantly 



* It is a remarkable fact, that Molina, though describing in detail all 

 the birds and animals of Chile, never once mentions this genus, the species 

 of which are so common, and so remarkable in their habits. Was he at a 

 loss how to classify them, and did he consequently think that silence was 

 the more prudent course ? It is one more instance of the frequency of 

 omissions by authors, on those very subjects where it might have been 

 least expected. 



