THE HUMMING-BIRD. 



167 



lies that the most exquisite artist is incapable 

 of imitating. They, for instance, who imagine 

 they have a complete idea of the beauty of 

 the little tribe of manikin birds, from the pic- 

 tures we have of them, will find themselves 

 deceived, when they compare their draughts 

 with nature. The shining greens, the change- 

 able purples, and the glossy reds, are beyond 

 the reach of the pencil ; and very far beyond 

 the coloured print, which is but a poor sub- 

 stitute to painting. I have therefore de- 

 clined entering into a minute description of 

 foreign birds of the sparrow kind ; as sounds 

 would never convey an adequate idea of 

 colours. 



There is one species, however, that I will 

 conclude the history of this class with ; as, 

 though the least, it will certainly be allowed 

 the most beautiful of all others. In quadru- 

 peds, the smallest animals are noxious, ugly, 

 and lothesome ; the smallest of birds are the 

 most beautiful, innocent, and sportive. Of 

 all those that flutter in the garden, or paint 

 the landscape, the humming-bird is the most 

 delightful to look upon, and the most inoffen- 

 sive. 



Of this charming little animal there are 

 six or seven varieties, 1 from the size of a small 



my prey is there, I labour for hours together till I get 

 at it; and, by consuming it, for my own support, I pre- 

 vent its further depredations in that part. Thus I dis- 

 cover for you a hidden and unsuspected foe, which has 

 been devouring your wood in such secrecy, that you had 

 not the least suspicion it was there. The hole which I 

 make, in order to get at the pernicious vermin, will be 

 seen by you as you pass under the tree. I leave it as a 

 signal to tell you, that your tree has already stood too 

 long. It is past its prime. Millions of insects, engen- 

 dered by disease, are preying upon its vitals: ere long 

 it will fall a log in useless ruins. Warned by this loss, 

 rut down the rest in time, and spare, O spare, the un- 

 offending woodpecker." Wanderings of Charles fPater- 

 ton in South America. 



1 The family of humming-birds (Trochilidee) is divid- 

 ed into numerous genera. Upwards of 100 species are 

 now known to naturalists. Recent discoveries have 

 proved that their range of habitation is more extended 

 than was once imagined ; for though they chiefly abound 

 in the intertropical latitudes of America, many visit the 

 temperate and colder portions of that continent. The 

 ruby-throated humming-bird (Trochilux Colubris}, passes 

 north as far as the interior of Canada, migrating like the 

 swallow. Nor is this the only species which extends 

 into a colder climate. Captain King, while on his sur- 

 vey of the southern toasts, met with numerous species 

 flying about in a snow-storm near the Straits of Magel- 

 lan, and discovered two species (Trochilus Fernandensis, 

 and T. Stokesii) in the island of Juan Fernandez. Still, 

 however, the central regions of the continent, and the 

 islands adjacent, are their chief resort. There they 

 people the woods and the gardens, glancing in the sun 

 like meteors as they flit by with inconceivable rapidity, 

 or, suspended on their burnished and quivering wings, 

 explore the nectary of some scented blossom. These 

 birds may be almost said to live upon the wing. There 

 is no bird that equals them in power of flight, and they 

 are quick as lightning in their motions. Their wings 

 are of extraordinary length, and this, with their shape 



wren down to that of an humble-bee. A 

 European could never have supposed a bird 

 existing so very small, and yet completely 

 furnished out with a bill, feathers, wings, 



and the character of the feathers composing them, con- 

 tributes to their efficiency. The feet and legs, on the 

 contrary, are small and feeble ; they are, in fact, of 

 merely second-rate importance in the economy of the 

 humming-bird. The ground and the trees are not its 

 element. It sometimes, indeed, settles on a twig, while 

 it preens its plumage of glittering scale-like feathers, or 

 arranges the moss and down of its nest ; but the air is 

 its abiding place, where it feeds and passes the whole of 

 its active existence. Wilson observes that " the hum- 

 ming-bird is extremely fond of tubular flowers, and I have 

 often stopped with pleasure to observe his manoeuvres 

 among the blossoms of the trumpet flower. When 

 arrived before a thicket of those that are full blown, he 

 poises or suspends himself on the wing, for the space of 

 two or three seconds, so steadily, that his wings became 

 invisible, or only like a mist, and you ran plainly dis- 

 tinguish the pupil of his eye looking round with great 

 quickness and circumspection." With respect, then, to 

 the shape of these powerful organs of flight, we may 

 notice that they are narrow-pointed, and more or less 

 curved inwards, a good deal resembling those of the 

 swift, ; and are mainly composed of the primary quill 

 feathers, beautifully graduated, the first or outer one 

 being the longest. The secondary quill feathers are 

 very short, and occupy the inner edge at the base of the 

 primaries, taking up little room, and adding nothing to 

 the breadth of the wing as in birds in general. The 

 structure of these feathers must not be overlooked ; they 

 consist of a strong and peculiarly elastic shaft, which in 

 many species is very thick at its commencement. On 

 each side of this shaft is a vane, composed of narrow, 

 closely set, springy plumets, so compacted together, as 

 to give the idea of a thiu metallic or horny web, and 

 which, cutting the air at every stroke, produces that 

 humming noise which is heard while the bird hovers 

 over the flower, or darts arrow-like along. Of the im- 

 mense strength of the pectoral muscles by whose actions 

 these long pointed wings are thus rapidly agitated, we 

 can scarcely form an adequate conception. 



Next to the wings, the tail is the most important 

 agent as an organ of aerial progression. It is not only 

 the rudder by which a bird directs its course, or turns 

 and wheels, but it adds to the superficies of the body 

 without increasing its weight. In this group the tail is 

 ample, but varies extremely in shape ; in some species 

 it is square, in others forked, in some pointed, but in all 

 it is composed of feathers closely resembling those of the 

 wing in texture. Thus is the humming-bird consti- 

 tuted for flight ; nor is this extremely rapid merely, 

 but it is capable of long continuance. The flitting pro- 

 gress of the humming-bird from flower to flower resem- 

 bles that of a bee, but is infinitely more quick. When, 

 however, the bird is journeying, it sweeps through the 

 air in long undulations, rising and sinking alternately. 



It has been supposed by many that the nectar of 

 flowers constitutes the sole food of this charming race, 

 but such is not the fact. Nectar is no doubt a part of 

 their diet, but by no means the whole: they feed on the 

 small insects which lurk in the nectary, or wander over 

 the petals, nay, they even take insects on the wing, 

 as was observed by Wilson, who also found their frag- 

 ments in the stomach of such as he examined ; and 

 Audubon states, in confirmation, that insects, especially 

 those of the coleopterous order, are the principal food of 

 the humming-bird. The bill, fitted for penetrating into 

 the recesses of flowers, is long and slender, but varies in 

 shape. According to Brisson arid others, the tongue 

 consists of two muscular tubes. This organ, which in 



