THE CRIMSON TOPAZ. BIRDS. THE JACOBIX. 



311 



splendid blue colour ; but in the Chimborazo species 

 the throat is brilliant green, while in that from the 

 Pichincha the azure tint of the head is continued down 

 to the crescentic black band, which in both forms 

 crosses below the throat. 



THE SICKLE - BILLED HUMMING -BIED (Grypus 

 Aquila) is one of the most singular species of the family, 

 from the remarkable structure of its bill, which is curved 

 to such an extent as to resemble the agricultural imple- 

 ment referred to in the name of the species. The bill 

 has the upper mandible black and the lower one yellow; 

 the upper surface of the body is shining dark green, the 

 lower surface blackish, streaked with buff on the throat 

 and breast, and with white on the abdomen ; the wings 

 are purplish-brown, and the tail feathers green, tipped 

 with white. It is one of the larger species, measuring 

 about six inches in length. The specimens known are 

 from Bogota and Central America. The bird is very 

 rare in collections, and nothing is known of its habits. 



THE SAW BILL (Grypus navius}. This species, 

 which is found in Southern Brazil, especially on the 

 mountains of Corcovado near Rio de Janeiro, is dis- 

 tinguished by having the margins of the mandibles 

 serrated. It measures about six inches in length, 

 including the rather long and ample tail, and is of a 

 greenish bronze colour above, with the tail feathers 

 tipped with buff; the feathers of the lower surface are 

 blackish, broadly edged with white on the breast and 

 with buff on the belly ; the sides of the throat are red- 

 dish buff. The bill is black, with the base of the lower 

 mandible yellow ; and the feet are yellow. The nest 

 of this species is of an elongated, pointed form, com- 

 posed principally of moss and fine vegetable fibres ; it 

 is suspended from the extremity of a leaf. 



THE SWALLOW-TAILED HUMMING -BIRD (Eupe- 



tomena macrura). This species, which is described 

 by Mr. Gould as " the most swallow-like member of 

 the entire family of Trochilidse," is found in the low 

 districts bordering the rivers of Brazil and Cayenne. 

 The plumage of the body is green ; the whole of the 

 head and neck are rich shining blue, and the tail and 

 tail-coverts are steel blue ; on each side of the body 

 there is a white tuft, and the vent is white. The tail 

 is much elongated and forked in the male, less so in 

 the female, which is also smaller and rather less bril- 

 liant than her partner. 



THE PURPLE-BREASTED CAEIB (Eulampis jugu- 

 laris) Plate 8, fig. 2 (Trochilus granatinus). This 

 beautiful species is an inhabitant of the West Indies, 

 and is said also to occur in Guiana. It frequents the 

 high grounds. The sexes are exactly alike ; the gene- 

 ral colour of the plumage being black, with the chin, 

 throat, and breast reddish-purple ; the wings and wing- 

 coverts shining green; the tail-coverts greatly de- 

 veloped and of a brilliant green ; and the feathers of the 

 broad and powerful tail blackish-green. This bird 

 measures about five inches in length. 



THE CRIMSON TOPAZ (Topasa petto), which must be 

 regarded as one of the most gorgeous species of this 

 splendid family, is an inhabitant of the low districts of 

 Cayenne, Trinidad, and Surinam, and also of the coun- 

 tries bordering the lower Amazon. The male measures 

 about six inches in length, exclusive of a pair of elon- 



gated tail feathers that are wanting in the female, 

 which is also a little smaller than her mate. The whole 

 of the back and wing-coverts in the male are deep rich 

 red, becoming orange-red on the rump, and gradually 

 giving place to bronzed green on the upper tail-coverts. 

 The two centre tail feathers are also bronzed green ; 

 the next feather on each side is brownish-black, pro- 

 longed for a distance of about two inches and a half 

 beyond the rest of the tail, and crossing each other, whilst 

 the three outer feathers on each side are reddish-buff. 

 The head is deep violet black, and from it a broad band 

 passes down the sides of the neck and across the throat, 

 inclosing a large space of the most brilliant golden- 

 green colour, exhibiting .a rich golden or topaz hue in 

 the centre. The breast is occupied by a broad band of 

 deep crimson, and the rest of the lower surface is of a 

 brighter shining tint of the same colour. The legs are 

 white, the feet yellow, and the bill black. The general 

 colour of the female is bronzed green. 



Mr. Waterton gives the following account of the 

 habits of this magnificent bird : " One species alone," 

 he says, " never shows his beauty to the sun ; and were 

 it not for his Iov3ly shining colours, you might almost 

 be tempted to class him with the goatsuckers, on account 

 of his habits. He is the largest of all the Humming- 

 birds, and is all red and changing gold-green, except 

 the head, which is black. He has two long feathers in 

 the tail, which cross each other, and these have gained 

 him the name of Karabimiti, or ABA HUMMING-BIRD, 

 from the Indians. You never find him on the sea- 

 coast, or where the river is salt, or in the heart of the 

 forest, unless fresh water is there. He keeps close by 

 the side of woody fresh-water rivers, and dark and 

 lonely creeks. He leaves his retreat before sunrise, to 

 feed on the insects near the water ; he returns to it as 

 soon as the sun's rays cause a glare of light, is sedentary 

 all day long, and comes out again for a short time after 

 sunset. He builds his nest on a twig over the water 

 in the unfrequented creeks ; it looks like tanned cow- 

 leather." This nest, according to Mr. Gould, is of a 

 deep cup-like form, with very thin walls, composed 

 apparently of a sort of fungus resembling German 

 tinder, and held together by cobwebs. 



THE JACOBIN (Florisuga mellivora} is a very widely 

 distributed species, occurring in all the low-lying dis- 

 tricts from Guiana to Peru. It is liable to great diver- 

 sity of colouring, but the ordinary plumage of the adult 

 male is of a bronzed green colour above and white 

 beneath, with the whole of the head and throat brilliant 

 blue, and a white lunate mark on the back, behind the 

 blue of the head. The upper tail-coverts are very 

 large and long, reaching nearly to the extremity of the 

 tail, and of the same bronzed green colour as the back; 

 the tail feathers themselves are white, narrowly mar- 

 gined at the tip with black. The whole length of the 

 bird is four inches and a half. 



THE SHORT-TAILED WOODSTAR (Calothorax macru- 

 rus) . This curious little bird is one of the most diminu- 

 tive even in this family of dwarfs, measuring rather 

 less than two inches and a half in length. The upper 

 surface is bronzed green, the lower surface buff, and 

 the wings purplish-brown. The male has a large tri- 

 angular gorget of a brilliant amethyst red, which in 



