MANGO HUMMING-BIRD. 93 



interesting. They chased each other through the 

 labyrinth of twigs and flowers, till, an opportunity 

 occurring, the one would dart with seeming fury 

 upon the other, and then, with a loud rustling of 

 their wings, they would twirl together, round and 

 round, until they nearly came to the earth. It 

 was some time before I could see, with any dis- 

 tinctness, what took place in these tussles; their 

 twirlings were so rapid as to baffle all attempts at 

 discrimination. At length an encounter took place 

 pretty close to me, and I perceived that the beak of 

 the one grasped the beak of the other, and thus 

 fastened, both whirled round and round in their 

 perpendicular descent, the point of contact being 

 the centre of the gyrations, till, when another 

 second would have brought them both on the 

 ground, they separated, and the one chased the 

 other for about a hundred yards, and then returned 

 in triumph to the tree, where, perched on a lofty 

 twig, he chirped monotonously and pertinaciously 

 for some time ; I could not help thinking, in 

 defiance. In a few minutes, however, the banished 

 one returned, and began chirping no less provok- 

 ingly, which soon brought on another chase, and 

 another tussle. I am persuaded that these were 

 hostile encounters, for one seemed evidently afraid 

 of the other, fleeing when the other pursued, though 

 his indomitable spirit would prompt the chirp of 

 defiance ; and, when resting after a battle, I noticed 

 that this one held his beak open, as if panting. 

 Sometimes they would suspend hostilities to suck 

 a few blossoms, but mutual proximity was sure 



