TENUIROSTRES. 53 



called Swifts, after this manner : bending a pin 

 like a hook, and tying it by the head to the end 

 of a thread, they thrust it through a Cicada (as 

 boys bait a hook with a fly), holding the other 

 end of the thread in their hand. The Cicada, 

 so fastened, flies nevertheless in the air, which 

 the Merops spying, flies after it with all her force, 

 and catching it, swallows pin and all, wherewith 

 she is caught." 



TRIBE II. TENUIROSTRES. 



The birds of this division have the beak slender, 

 long, compressed, and frequently curved ; not 

 notched at the tip. The tongue is often divided 

 at the extremity into two or more filaments, and 

 is commonly used to suck or lick up the nectar 

 of flowers, and to draw in with this honeyed 

 liquid multitudes of minute insects, which con- 

 stitute the solid portion of their nutriment. 



The smallest of the feathered races are found 

 in this Tribe, as well as the most brilliantly 

 adorned ; for many of the genera are clothed with 

 a plumage of metallic lustre, and on particular 

 parts of their bodies, especially the forehead and 

 throat, with dense feathers of a peculiar scale- 

 like appearance, which reflect the varying radiance 

 of precious stones. The tribe is eminently tro- 

 pical in its geographical distribution, although 

 many species visit the temperate zones, and a 

 few are permanent residents of high latitudes. 



The tenuirostral Families are the five follow- 

 ing: Upupadtz, Nectariniadce, Trochilidce, Meli- 

 phagadtz, and Certliiadce. 



