LONG-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD. 103 



the Bluefields mountain, but at some distance 

 from the scene above described. About a quarter 

 of a mile within the woods, a blind path, choked 

 up with bushes, descends suddenly beneath an 

 overhanging rock of limestone, the face of which 

 presents large projections, and hanging points, en- 

 crusted with a rough, tuberculous sort of stalactite. 

 At one corner of the bottom there is a cavern, 

 in which a tub is fixed to receive water of great 

 purity, which perpetually drips from the roof, and 

 which in the dry season is a most valuable resource. 

 Beyond this, which is very obscure, the eye pene- 

 trates to a larger area, deeper still, which receives 

 light from some other communication with the air. 

 Round the projections and groins of the front, 

 the roots of the trees above have entwined, and 

 to a fibre of one of these hanging down, not 

 thicker than whipcord, was suspended a Humming- 

 bird's nest, containing two eggs. It seemed to 

 be composed wholly of moss, was thick, and attached 

 to the rootlet by its side. One of the eggs was 

 broken. I did not disturb it, but after about three 

 weeks, visited it again. It had been apparently 

 handled by some curious child, for both eggs were 

 broken, and the nest was evidently deserted. 



But while I lingered in the romantic place, 

 picking up some of the landshells which were scat- 

 tered among the rocks, suddenly I heard the whirr 

 of a Humming-bird, and, looking up, saw a female 

 Polytmus hovering opposite the nest, with a mass 

 of silk-cotton in her beak. Deterred by the sight 

 of me, she presently retired to a twig, a few paces 



