SUN-BIRDS. 61 



Some of these birds add the charm of song to 

 that of brilliancy of plumage. Freycinet says 

 of some species: " At night they have a length- 

 ened song, the modulations of which are very 

 agreeable/' and the music of one has been com- 

 pared to that of the Nightingale. 



The nest of the Sun-birds is commonly sus- 

 pended, of a globose form, having an opening on 

 one side, generally near the bottom. Mr. Jerdon, 

 in the " Madras Journal of Science," has thus de- 

 scribed that of Nectarinia mahrattensis, (LATH.) : 

 " I have seen the nest of this pretty little bird 

 close to a house at Joulnah. It was commenced 

 on a thick spider's web, by attaching to it various 

 fragments of paper, cloth, straw, grass, and other 

 substances, till it had secured a firm hold of the 

 twigs tor which the web adhered, and the nest, 

 suspended on this, was then completed by adding 

 other fragments of the same materials ; the hole 

 is at the one side, near the top, and has a slight 

 projecting roof or awning over it." 



We select, for illustration, the Splendid Sun- 

 bird (Nectarinia splendida, SHAW) of West Af- 

 rica, one of the most gorgeous of the tribe. It is 

 thus described by Sir W. Jardine : " The back 

 of the neck, shoulders, and upper and under tail- 

 coverts, are brilliant golden green, varying with 

 every change of light; the head and throat are 

 steel-blue, in some lights appearing as black, in 

 others as rich violet ; across the breast there ap- 

 pears, in most lights, a band of scarlet, but in 

 some positions it appears as if banded with steel- 

 blue, golden-green, or violet, and at times to be 

 almost entirely composed of one of those tints ; 

 this is occasioned by the structure of the feathers ; 



