82 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



when newly captured will readily drink up syrup 

 while held in the hand. So will the Sun-birds of 

 the Old World at any rate the two Asiatic species 

 of which I have had experience, the Purple (Cin- 

 nyris asiatica) and the Amethyst-rumped (C. 

 zeylonica). 



These small and brilliantly coloured birds are 

 often mistaken for Humming-birds, just as the 

 Hornbills of the East are often called Toucans, the 

 American birds in each case having obtained the 

 earlier and greater reputation with the public at 

 large, as well as with naturalists. And indeed the 

 habits of the Toucans and Hornbills are sufficiently 

 alike to afford a good excuse for this ; but the 

 Sun-birds, charming little creatures though they 

 are, seem commonplace after the fairy-like hovering 

 Humming-birds, since they simply hop about like 

 Tits or small Warblers, and do not hover more 

 than those birds do. Their tongue is also less 

 specialized, though also tubular, but their diet is 

 exactly the same, and Mr. A. Ezra, who had at the 

 time of writing the only two living Humming- 

 birds in this country one specimen each of the 

 Garnet- throated (Eulampis jugularis) and of Ricord's 

 (Sporadinus ricordi) finds that they thrive well on 

 the same fortified syrup, composed of honey, 

 Mellin's baby-food, and condensed milk, which 

 has well served the various species of Sun-birds for 

 which he first used it. 



Neither Sun-birds nor Humming-birds can support 

 existence for long on a diet of sugar-syrup alone, 



