Racket-tailed Humming-bird 99 



In November a female was seen collecting moss for its 

 nest, and this was the season of the manoeuvres. 



That the wonderful tail of Loddigesia mirabilis is nothing 

 more than ornamentation, cannot be doubted, and it is 

 equally certain that the rackets are rather a hindrance to 

 the bird's flight, and not an assistance, as was supposed by 

 Gould. The tail is wonderfully formed, for in the females and 

 young males ten tail-feathers are present, as in the majority 

 of Humming-birds, but the adult male has only four, The 

 two central ones are very tiny and scarcely visible, while the 

 other pair are developed into wire-like plumes, with the 

 large racket at the end ; these cross each other twice. The 

 long-pointed feathers which we see in the picture of the Lod- 

 digesia are not really tail-feathers, but are under tail-coverts 

 developed to an inordinate length. Mr. O. T. Baron, who 

 was at Chachapoyas in 1895, occupied the same Hacienda 

 that Mr. Stolzmann had lived in, but it was now in 

 ruins, so that he had to pitch a tent, the spot selected for 

 which was near a thick bush in full flower. " Hardly was 

 the tent up," says Mr. Baron, " when I heard the familiar 

 sound of the wings of Loddigesia mirabilis. Immediately 

 other arrangements were left and my gun seized. I saw 

 a beautiful Loddigesia in the bush, too near to shoot The 

 thought came over me to save the bird for observation, for 

 which I have never been sorry, though I may have lost a 

 very fine specimen by doing so, 



" Shortly after, a female bird arrived and settled upon a 

 small limb. Immediately the male bird discontinued feed- 

 ing and flew towards the female, the tail so spread that the 

 spatules were protruded in front of his bill. In this position 

 it hovered for a short time, when a young male appeared 

 on the scene. The adult male discontinued his perform- 

 ance and sat upon a little branch. The young one hovered 

 before it, flying from side to side for about ten inches, and 

 flipping its two long tail-feathers at every extreme of its 



