LONG-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD. 253 



sat. I immediately sank down among the rocks as gently as pos- 

 sible, and remained perfectly still. In a few seconds she came 

 again, and, after hovering a moment, disappeared behind one of 

 the projections, whence in a few seconds she emerged again and 

 flew oft! I then examined the place, and found, to my delight, a 

 new nest. 



" I again sat down on the stones in front, where I could see the 

 nest, not concealing myself, but remaining motionless, waiting for 

 the bird's reappearance. I had not to wait long ; a loud whirr, 

 and there she was, suspended in the air before her nest. She soon 

 espied me, and came within a foot of my eyes, hovering just in 

 front of my face. I remained still, however, when I heard the 

 whirring of another just above me, perhaps the mate, but I durst 

 not look toward him, lest the turning of my head should frighten 

 the female. In a minute or two the other was gone, and she 

 alighted again on the twig, where she sat some little time preen- 

 ing her feathers, and apparently clearing her mouth from the cot- 

 ton fibres, for she swiftly projected the tongue an inch and a half 

 from the beak, continuing the same curve as that of the beak. 



"When she arose it was to perform a very interesting action, 

 for she flew to the face of the rock, which was thickly clothed 

 with soft downy moss, and, hovering on the wing as if before a 

 flower, began to pluck the moss until she had a large bunch of it 

 in her beak. Then I saw her fly to the nest, and, having seated 

 herself in it, proceeded to place the new materials, pressing, and 

 arranging, and interweaving the whole with her beak, while she 

 fashioned the cup-like form of the interior by the pressure of her 

 white breast, moving round and round as she sat. My presence 

 appeared to be no hinderance to her proceedings, although only a 

 few feet distant; at length she left the place, and I left also." 



The bird whose proceedings are thus vividly described is a 

 lovely species, remarkable for the very great length of the two 

 central tail-feathers, which are very narrow, and twice as long as 

 the bird from the point of the beak to the root of the tail. They 

 cross each other as the bird is at rest, and their color is deep pur- 

 ple-black. The rest of the plumage is most lovely, the upper 

 parts being green, with a golden gloss, and the throat and lower 

 parts emerald-green. The top of the head is deep velvet-like 

 black, and surmounted with a small plume. These are the colors 

 of the adult male, the female being without the two long feathers 

 in the tail, the top of the head brown, and the throat and breast 

 white, slightly speckled with green. 



