HUMMING-BIRDS. 441 



placed in a series of three or four in a spathe, one above another, and agglutinated 

 together, but with a kind of gallery along the side, communicating with each. The 

 material seemed only feathers and silk-cotton (the down of the Bonibax) ; the former 

 very largely used, the most downy placed within, the cotton principally without, the 

 whole felted so strongly as to be almost as tenacious as cloth. On the palmetto leaf, 

 instead of the hollow of a spathe, they were attached to the plaited surface of the 

 fronds. They were composed almost exclusively of the silk-cotton, and in the form 

 of those watch-fobs which are hung at the head of the bed, the backs being firmly glued 

 by saliva to the under surface of the fronds. LEONHAKD STEJNEGER. 



The humming-birds, solely found in the New World, are most abundant in South 

 and Central America, with a few species extending into North America as far as 

 Nootka Sound and Canada. The family TROCHILID^E cannot be divided into any sub- 

 families, as no genera are so essentially different from all the rest as to require them to 

 be separated in such a radical manner. ' Hummers,' as they are often called, are Pica- 

 rian birds, having but one carotid artery, the left, a naked oil-gland, and no caeca. 

 They have small, sometimes minute, bodies, with bills varying from feeble to stout, 

 usually longer than the head, in one instance exceeding the body in length, usually 

 straight, but in one group it is curved to a third of a circle, with a short gape, and no 

 bristles. Nostrils are placed near the base of the maxilla, and are covered by a scale, 

 though sometimes they are hidden in the frontal feathers. The tongue, which is very 

 slender, and capable of great extension, curves around and over the back of the skull, 

 similarly to a wood-pecker's, and consists of two minute parallel tubes, through which 

 the sweetened juices of flowers are drawn into the throat. The wings are narrow and 

 pointed ; the primaries, always ten in number, are stiff and lengthened, the second- 

 aries very short. The manus is very long, and the humerus extremely short, which 

 enables the bird to move the wing with great rapidity. Sternum large with a very 

 deep keel, pectoral muscles in consequence very powerful for the size of the bird. 

 The tail always possesses ten rectrices, except in Loddigesia mirabilis which has but 

 four. The tarsi are short, either naked, partly clothed, or hidden in tufts of feathers. 

 The feet are small with short toes, and curved sharp claws. The plumage varies from 

 plain sombre tints to the most brilliant metallic hues that it is possible to conceive. 

 In all cases the male is the one most attractively adorned. 



The food was at one time supposed to consist solely of the nectar obtained from 

 flowers, and at times, or during certain seasons of the year, this may be the case, but 

 it has been fully ascertained that various kinds of insects also form a large propor- 

 tion of their sustenance, and some genera feed almost entirely upon insects. The 

 probability is that these fairy creatures require both insect food and the juices of 

 flowers, and these are partaken of equally whenever the opportunity to obtain them 

 presents itself. The flight of these birds is usually of great swiftness; the wings 

 move with such rapidity that they are invisible, each wing working a half circle. 

 Some species, like Patagona giyas and Pterophanes temmindkti, move their wings, 

 when hovering over a flower, with a slow motion, evincing considerable power. At 

 this time the tail is closed and expanded with a motion like a fan. They are capable 

 of making most astonishing aerial evolutions, darting in every direction with the speed 

 of light, arresting their course instantaneously at will. 



Nearly all humming-birds are exceedingly quarrelsome in disposition, both during 

 the breeding season and other times as well. Some will not permit others to remain 



