BIRDS. TROCHILID^:. 



307 



is higher than the forehead ; the lower mandible is not 

 more than half as long as the upper one, into the lower 

 surface of which it fits. This curious bird has the 

 upper surface of the body olive-coloured ; the forehead 

 and cheeks, the throat and breast, are bright yellow, 

 as are also the eyebrows. The female is more sober 

 in her colours, and has no yellow except on the eye- 

 brows. The length of the bird is about six inches. 



THE BLUE GUIT-GUIT (Ccereba cyaned). Besides 

 the preceding and numerous allied species inhabiting 

 the Old World, a few birds belonging to this family are 

 found in the tropical parts of America. The Blue 

 Guit-guit is one of these. It has a nearly straight, 

 acute bill, of moderate length, and a short square tail. 

 The general colour of its plumage is a fine, lustrous, 

 indigo blue, the forehead is brilliant ultramarine blue, 

 and a violet-black band passes over the eyes. It mea- 

 sures about five inches in length. This beautiful little 

 bird is abundant in Brazil and Guiana, especially in 

 the latter country, whence numerous specimens are 

 brought to Europe, where they are often regarded as 

 Humming-birds. In its habits this bird closely resem- 

 bles the rest of the Nectarinidai ; it hovers about the 

 flowers in search of their sweet juices and of the insects 

 which conceal themselves among the petals, and also 

 captures insects upon the branches of trees and shrubs. 

 The nest is suspended at the extremity of a slender 

 twig ; it is constructed very artificially with straws and 

 other coarse materials externally, and lined with soft 

 matters, woven into the form of a chemist's retort with 

 a neck about a foot long, through which the little 

 architects obtain access to the true nest situated in the 

 belly of the retort. Here the eggs are laid, and thus 

 the brood and their parents are sheltered from their 

 enemies. 



THE CAYENNE DAENIS (Darnis cayana), another 



species abundant in Guiana, is rather more than four 



inches in length, and of a glossy green colour, streaked 



with white on the lower surface. It resides in the 



| forests, and usually keeps in the upper parts of high 



i trees, preferring those which are in flower. Here it 



( creeps about in every direction upon the branches and 



twigs in search of spiders and insects, which appear to 



constitute at least the greater part of its nourishment. 



The nest is built at the top of lofty trees. 



THE BLACK AND YELLOW CEBTHIOLE (Certkiola 

 flaveola] is an inhabitant of tropical South America 

 and the West Indian islands, where it appears to be 

 abundant. Its general colour is ashy-grey, but the 

 head is blackish, with a white streak over each eye, 

 united behind the head. The anterior part of the wings 

 is margined with bright yellow, and the rump, breast, 

 and abdomen are yellow, becoming greyish towards the 

 vent. The length of the bird is about four inches and 

 a half. The Certhiole is called the Sucrier in Cayenne, 

 from its frequenting the sugar-canes for the sake of 

 their sweet viscous juice ; it also haunts flowers, partly 

 in search of their nectar, but partly for the insects con- 

 tained in them. It is said to have a short but agree- 

 able song. During the greater part of the year it is a 

 very solitary bird, and even during the breeding season 

 usually endeavours to keep all its fellows from the place 

 which it has selected for its dwelling. Its nest is sus- 



pended at the extremity of the most flexible twigs, and 

 it usually selects those for this purpose which hang over 

 the middle of a brook. The nest, which is exclusively 

 the work of the female, is constructed of moss, dry 

 vegetable fibres, and the cotton and down of plants. 

 These materials are so closely interwoven, and so 

 strongly attached to the supporting twig, that the 

 whole must be broken to pieces if it be desired to 

 remove it without cutting the twigs. The entrance is 

 from below, and the nest is divided vertically by a 

 partition into two chambers, one of which serves as a 

 sort of staircase to enable the bird to ascend to the top 

 of the nest, whence it then descends into the second 

 chamber, which has no direct communication with the 

 exterior. In this chamber the female lays her eggs 

 and performs the business of incubation, sheltered 

 from ah 1 her enemies ; security is still further provided 

 for by the male keeping watch in the outer chamber 

 of this ingeniously- constructed dwelling. With this 

 interesting species we may close our notice of the 

 present family, and pass to that of the Humming-birds. 



FAMILY III. TROCHILIDJE. 



The birds forming this family, which are undoubtedly 

 the gems of our ornithological treasuries, are peculiar 

 to the New World, in the tropical parts of which they 

 abound, adorning the gardens, fields, and woods, and 

 even the mountain sides to a considerable height, with 

 their swiftly glancing fairy-like forms, and brilliant 

 sparkling colours. These charming little birds, the 

 smallest, as a group, of all the feathered tribes, are 

 furnished with a long and more or less acute bill, 

 which is sometimes straight and sometimes curved, and 

 has the lateral margins of its upper mandible dilated 

 beyond the edges of the lower one. The nostrils are 

 situated at the base of the upper mandible, and con- 

 cealed beneath a large scale, which is sometimes covered 

 with feathers. The wings are long and pointed, remind- 

 ing one somewhat of those of the Swifts, with which, as 

 already stated, the Humming-birds have a very manifest 

 affinity. They are moved by powerful muscles, and the 

 keel of the sternum, to which the great pectoral muscles 

 are attached, is probably more developed in these than 

 in any other birds. The structure of the sternum pre- 

 sents a very close general resemblance to that prevail- 

 ing in the Swifts. The legs are short and slender, 

 indicating that the birds are not in the habit of alight- 

 ing on the ground ; but the feet are terminated by long 

 toes, well adapted for perching upon the twigs of trees 

 and shrubs, which are the favourite resting-places oi 

 these feathered gems. The structure of the tongue and 

 its accessories is very remarkable in the Humming- 

 birds. The tongue itself is cleft nearly to its base; and 

 the branches of the hyoid bone, which supports the 

 tongue, are prolonged round the back of the skull 

 almost like springs. By the agency of this remarkable 

 organization, which, however, we shall meet with else- 

 where amongst birds, the tongue acquires great capa- 

 bility of protrusion and retraction, so that it may work 

 within the tubular bill like the piston of a pump ; and 

 the birds are said to use it in this way in sucking up 

 the sweet juices of flowers, which certainly constitute 



