146 



Travels and Adventures 



SWORD-BILL HUMMING- 

 BIRD {docimastes EN- 



SIFERUS) FEEDING ON 

 THE FLOWER OF THE 

 DATURA DEPRESS A, 



Datura depi'essa. Its 

 bill seems to have 

 grown with its ne- 

 cessity to reach the 

 honey in the ex- 

 tremity of the long- 

 tubed flowers ; the 

 bill of this extraor- 

 dinary little mite is 

 about two inches long 

 and of the thickness 

 of a darning-needle, 

 being quite half- an - 

 inch longer than the 

 body. This variety 

 of humming-bird is 

 known to naturalists 

 as the Docimastes en- 

 siferus. The third 

 was a bird about the 

 size of a starling, 

 gaudily coloured, the 

 upper part of the 

 body black, the breast 

 a brilliant scarlet, 

 while a streak of rich 

 blue ornaments each 



