Sun-Birds.] 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



379 



1672. — The Cora. Humming-Bird 



COmismya Cora, Less.) This species is a native of 

 Peru, and especially the plains of Lima. The bill 

 is slender, the tarsi feeble and short, the tail 

 graduated with the two middle feathers greatly 

 prolonsjed ; the wings are purpled brown : the 

 general plumage above bright golden green; the 

 throat and front of the neck sparkle with the violet 

 tint of the amethyst, and a white gorget marks the 

 limits of the scaly feathers ; flanks and under parts 

 golden green ; lateral tail-feathers brown with white 

 borders ; two central white with black tips. Total 

 length nearly six inches, of which the tail measures 

 three inches and a half. 



1673. — The Sickle-winged Humming-Bird 

 (Campt/loptems fakatus). This species is a native 

 of the Spanish Main. Its colours are dazzling : the 



Erevailing tint is refulgent green; the throat and 

 reast shining blue; the tail rufous cinnamon. The 

 outer quills of the wings are singularly curved, and- 

 have strong dilated shafts, giving additional powers 

 to the wing, which is of a sabre-shape and admirably 

 adapted for rapid flight. 



1674. — The Bar-tailed Humming-Bird 



(Omismya Sappho, Lesson). Trochilus sparganurus, 

 Shaw ; T. chrysochloris, Vieill. This brilliant species, 

 a native of Eastern Peru, is at once to be distin- 

 guished by the shape of its tail, which is forked to 

 the base, and thus consists of two diverging portions, 

 each containing five feathers, graduating in length 

 one beyond another. Their colour is of the richest 

 flame or bright orange red, with a dazzling metallic 

 lustre, and a broad mark of black at the tip. The 

 •upper surface is fine golden green ; the rump dull 

 red ; the under surface" bright emerald-green. 



1675. — Gould's Humming-Bird 

 {Omismya Gmddli, Lesson). The native district 

 of this splendid species is unknown. The forehead, 

 throat, and upper part of the breast are of the most 

 brilliant green, the feathers being of a scaly form. 

 From the crown springs a pyramidal crest of bright 

 chestnut colour, and capable of being raised up or 

 depressed at pleasure. The back and upper parts 

 are golden green, crossed upon the rump with a 

 whitish band. The wings and tail are brownish 

 purple, the latter having the centre feathers tinged 

 with green. The sides of the neck are adorned with 

 tufts, producing a chaste but brilliant effect; these 

 tufts consist of narrow feathers, arranged so as to 

 form a fan, which are of snowy whiteness, each hav- 

 ing at its tip a spot of bright emerald-green sur- 

 rounded by a darker border. 



1676. — ^The Recurved-bill Humming Bird 

 {Trochilus recurvirostris). In this species, which 

 appears to be a native of Peru, the bill is singularly 

 turned up at the point, in order, it has been sug- 

 gested, to enable the bird to reach the nectaries of 

 the Bigoniae, whose corolla are long and generally 

 bent in the tube. The general colour is golden 

 green ; the throat shining emerald-green ; middle of 

 the breast and of the under surface black ; lateral 

 tail-feathers beneath topaz. 



Many instances are on record of humming-birds 

 being kept in confinement in their native country. 

 Mr. Bullock, when in Mexico, had nearly seventy in 

 cages, and declares that could he have devoted his 

 attention to them, he had no doubt of the possibility 

 of bringing them alive to Europe : nor do we question 

 it for a moment. In proof, indeed, of the possibility, 

 we may observe, that a gentleman, a few days before 

 he sailed from Jamaica, having found a female Mango 

 humming-bird sitting on her nest and eggs, cut off 

 the twig and brought the whole on board. The bird 

 became so tame as to suff'er herself to be fed on 

 honey and water during the passage, and hatched 

 two young ones. The mother did not long survive, 

 but the young were brought to England, and con- 

 tinued some time in the possession of Lady Ham- 

 mond, from whose lips they took honey ; and though 

 one did not live long, the other survived for at least 

 two months from the time of their arrival. 



Family CINNYRID^ (SUN-BIRDS). 



Fio. 1677 represents the forms observable in the 

 bills of the birds of the present family, and also of 

 the Honeysuckers (Nectariniadae, vigors), which 

 Mr. Swainson considers as forming one of the groups 

 of the CinnyridsB. a, bill of Melithreptes ; b, bill of 

 Cinnyris; c, bill of Anthreptes; d, Nectarinia; e, 

 Dicseiim. 



The Sun birds are exclusively natives of the warm 

 cliiiiiites of the Old World, viz. India and Africa, 

 anil ajiproach the humming-birds in manners, as they 

 almost rival them in brilliancy of plumage. Unlike 

 the creepers, which travel mouse-like along the 

 branches, or the honeysuckers (Nectariniadae), 

 which flit from twig to twig and flower to flower, 

 resting while they explore the nectary with their 



beak, these glossy birds usually hover on quivering 

 wings, poised in the air, while they bury their long 

 slender bills in the corolla. Their plumage glitters 

 with metallic effulgence, but the colours are not 

 changeable in varied lights like the burning hues 

 of the humming-birds ; the feathers are not in fact 

 scale-like, or of that texture producing innumerable 

 facets, each facet reflecting the rays of light at ever- 

 changing angles : they are simply burnished.* 



Insects of various kinds constitute the diet of the 

 sun-birds, together with honey : their bill is more 

 or less curved ; the tongue is long, retractile, 

 pencilled, or simply forked at the tip. 



The sun-birds are animated, rapid, and graceful 

 in their movements; their disposition is lively, and 

 their song agreeable. For an account of several 

 species recently introduced to science, see Colonel 

 Sykes's ' Catalogue of the Birds of Dukhun ' (' Zool. 

 Proceeds.' 1832, pp. 98, 99). It will be observed that 

 insects of various kinds were mostly found in the 

 stomachs of those examined, and that it is stated 

 " they hover before flowers and suck honey on the 

 wing." 



1678. — ^The Collared Sun-Bird 

 (Cinnyris chalybeia). Lesser Collared Creeper of 

 Swainson. In the restricted genus Cinnyris the 

 bill is long and slender, and the margins are minutely 

 denticulated; the tongue retractile and simply 

 forked ; the third quill-feather the longest. 



The Collared Sun-bird (Soui-manga a Collier of 

 Vieillot) is a native of Africa. Its general colour is 

 golden green, with brownish wings and tail , and a nar- 

 row red band across the breast, bordered above by 

 another of steel-blue ; upper tail-coverts blue. 



1679. — The Javanese Sun-Bird 

 {Anthreptes Javanica). Nectarinia Javanica, Hors- 

 tield. The genus Anthreptes is characterized by 

 Mr. Swainson as having the bill moderate, rather 

 strong, slightly curved ; wings, feet, and tail as in 

 Cinnyris. 



The Javanese Sun-Bird is of a glossy metallic 

 purple above ; olive-yellow beneath ; the scapulars, 

 the rump, and a broad stripe curving from the base 

 of the beak to the breast glossy violet ; throat chest- 

 nut ; tail black. Native country, Java. 



Family NECTARINIAD^ (HONEYSUCKERS). 



The NectariniadsE of Vigors are peculiar to South 

 America, where, amidst the most luxuriant foliage 

 and the wildest profusion of flowers, they flit and hop 

 from twig to twig, from blossom to blossom, in quest 

 of small insects and honey, probing the nectaries 

 with their bill. The bill and feet are stronger than 

 in the sun-birds, and the powers of wing more 

 limited. Their plumage is brilliant. 



1C80. — The Blue-Headbd Honeysucker 

 (Nectarinia cyanocephala'). Cayenne Warbler, 

 Blue-headed Warbler, and Blue-headed Creeper, 

 Latham ; Le Petit Verd, Brisson. The male of this 

 species is of a changeable blue ; the throat, back, 

 tail, and wings black ; the quills edged with blue. 

 The female is green, with the head, cheeks, and 

 scapulars bluish ; and the throat grey. 



Mr. Swainson, who observed this bird in its native 

 country, after stating that its habits are precisely 

 those of the other Nectariniadae, says, "It is one of the 

 commonest birds of Brazil, and appears spread over 

 the whole extent of that country. It frequents the 

 same trees as the humming-birds, hopping from 

 flower to flower, and extracting the nectar from 

 each ; but this is not done on the wing, because its 

 formation is obviously different from the humming- 

 birds, which, on the contrary, poise themselves in the 

 air during feeding." The young males have the 

 colours of the females. The upper figure is that of 

 a female ; the lower, that of a male. 



Family MELIPHAGIDyE (HONEYEATERS). 



In this family we also find the suctorial structure of 

 the tongue, but the bill and legs are stronger than 

 those even of the Nectariniadae. The hind-toe is par- 

 ticularly large, and furnished with a powerful claw ; 

 and the tarsi are robust. The species are natives of 

 Australia and various islands adjacent. Though 

 the tongue is suctorial and tipped with a pencil of 

 delicate filaments, it is not nearly so extensible as 



* ah the scaly feathers, in fact, observes Lesson, which simulate 

 velvet, the emerald, or the ruby, and which one sees on the head ami 

 the throat ot the Epimachi, the Faradise-birds, and the Hummintj- 

 birds, resemble each other in the uniformity of their structure ; are all 

 composed of cylindrical barbies, bordered with other analogous regular 

 Ijarbles. wtiicti in their tuin support other small ones, and all of them 

 are hollowed in the centre with a deep furrow, so that when the lijjht, 

 as Audebert first remarked, f^lides in a vertical direction over the 

 scaly leathers, the result i^, that all the luminous ra\s are absorbed in 

 traversing them, and the perception of black is produced. But it is no 

 longer the same when the li^ht is rellected from these feathers (each of 

 which performs the office of a reflector) : then it is that the aspect of 

 the emerald, the ruby, &c. , varying with the utmost diversity under 

 the incidences of the rays wjiich strike them, is given out by the mole- 

 cular arrnngemeat of the barbies. As an examole of the diversity of 

 tints which spring from such scaly f^-athers, M. Lesson cites the eme- 

 rald " crMv.at 'of many species, which takes all the hues of green, and 

 then the brightest and most uniformly golden tints, down to intense 

 velvet black ; or that of ruby, which darts forth pencils of light, or 

 passes from reddish orange to a crimsoned red black. 



in the humming-birds, nor, according to Mr. Swain- 

 son, do the branches of the os hyoides wind round 

 the skull. Insects and the honey of flowers consti- 

 tute the food of these birds, to which some species 

 add fruits or berries. 



Lewin, who drew and described these birds in their 

 native region, has figured the tongue of the warty- 

 faced honeysucker (Meliphaga Phrygia) ('Birds of 

 New Holland,' pi. 4), and describes the bird as some- 

 times to be seen "in great numbers, constantly fly- 

 ing from tree to tree (particularly the blue gum), 

 feeding among the blossoms by extracing the honey 

 with their long tongues from every flower as they 

 passed." The same observer, speaking of the blue- 

 faced honeysucker, describes it as being " fond of 

 picking transverse holes in the bark, between which 

 and the wood it inserts its long tongue in search of 

 small insects, which it. draws out with great dex- 

 terity. 



According to Lewin, the yellow-eared honey- 

 sucker in the winter season feeds on the sweet 

 berries of the white cedar. 



1681. — The New Holland Honeysucker 

 (Meliphaga Novm Hollandiee). As its name im- 

 plies, this bird is a native of New Holland, and, as 

 Mr. Caley states, is " most frequently met with in 

 the trees growing in scrubs, where the different 

 species of Banksia are found, the flowers of which, 

 I have reason to think, afford it a sustenance during 

 winter. In the summer I have shot it when sucking 

 the flowers of Leptospermum flavescens. In the 

 scrubs about Paramatta it is very common.'' 



1682.— The Poe' Bird 



(Prosthemadera Novce Seelandice), This splendid 

 bird, which equals a pigeon in size, is a native of 

 the woods of New Zealand, which resound with its 

 ■ tuneful notes : it is stated not only to be a delight- 

 ful songster, but to be capable of imitating the 

 voices of other birds. It is remarkable for two 

 plumes of snowy white, hanging one on each side of . 

 the throat. In the Wattled Honeyeater of Van 

 Diemen's Land (Anthochaera corunculata) two 

 fleshy wattles hang in the same manner ; and in the 

 Meliphaga pencillata, Gould, a native of New South 

 Wales, a small white tuft passes behind the eai 

 coverts. In the genus Tropidorhynchus, one of this 

 family, we find the head more or less denuded of 

 feathers: and in one species, the Knob-fronted Honey- 

 eater (T. corniculatus), there is a fleshy excrescence 

 rising up at the base of the upper mandible. 



The plumage of the Poe-bird may be thus 

 described : — Head, neck, chest, and greater wing- 

 coverts, and outer edges of the secondaries, dark 

 metallic green, with bronzed reflexions : the feathers 

 of the back of the neck are long and pointed, and have 

 a narrow white line down the centre of each. From 

 the angle of each lower jaw depends a curled tuft of 

 soft white feathers, spreading at their apex, narrow 

 at their base ; back glossy bronzed brown, a patch 

 of pure white on the shoulders ; rump glossy steel- 

 blue ; tail brown, glossed above with steel-blue ; 

 quills brown, more or less glossed on their edges 

 with blue ; under parts blackish brown, with a wash 

 of rufous. Total length upwards of twelve inches. 



I Family PROMEROPID^ (PROMEROPES). 



The Promeropidae (from which we have excluded 

 the hoopoes) are birds of extremely brilliant plumage, 

 with long slender bills capable of penetrating into the 

 nectary of flowers. Cuvier says the tongue is ex- 

 tensible, and bifid at the tip, enabling them to live 

 on the honey of flowers, like the sun-birds and hum- 

 ming-birds ; but no doubt insects, and perhaps soft 

 fruits, constitute the greater portion of their diet. 

 The tail is extremely long ; the legs small ; the 

 general contour slender. 



1683. — The Red-billed Promerops 



(Promerops erythrorynchus). Le Promerops mo- 

 queur of the French. This brilliant bird is a native 

 of the interior of Southern Africa, where it lives in 

 troops, which make when disturbed a loud chatter- 

 ing. The whole of the plumage is varied with me- 

 tallic blue and green; the bill is coral-red. The 

 tail is greatly prolonged, and the feathers are gra- 

 duated. 



1684. — The Superb Epimachus 



(Epimachus maijmis). In the genus Epimachus 

 •he bill closely resembles that of Promerops, but the 

 nostrils are partially hidden by velvety feathers as in 

 the Birds of Paradise ; the plumage of the Epima- 

 chi glows with the same effulgence as in the latter, 

 andlhey are natives of the same regions. In the 

 males the feathers of the sides are more or less pro- 

 longed and enlarged. 



" There does not perhaps exist," says Sonnerat, " a 

 more extraordinary bird than the grand Promerops of 

 New Guinea. It is four feet in length from the ex- 

 tremity of the bill to that the tail. Its body is deli- 

 cate, slender, and, although it is of an elongated form, 



3C2 



