NATURAL HISTORY. 23 J 



numbers than one pair at a time. M. Beckstein gives a curi- 

 ous account of the attitude assumed by the Hoopoe on per- 

 ceiving a large bird in the air. " As soon as they perceived a 

 raven or even a pigeon, they were on their bellies in the 

 twinkling of an eye, their wings stretched out by the side of 

 the head, so that the large quill feathers touched : the head 

 leaning on the back with the bill pointing upwards. In this 

 curious posture they might be taken for an old rag !" It lays 

 from four to seven grey eggs in the hollow of a tree. Its 

 length is one foot. 



Family II. Trocliilidse. 

 TROCHILUS. (Gr. 



Colubris (Lat. like a snake), t/ie Ruby-throated Humming-bird. 



These little living gems are exclusively found in the New 

 World, especially about the tropical parts, becoming gradually 

 scarcer as we recede from the tropics in either direction. Only 

 two species are known to exist in the northern parts but in 

 the central portions and in the islands about Florida they ab- 

 solutely swarm. They glance about in the sunshine, looking 

 like streaks of brilliant light, and so rapid is the vibration of 

 their fine and elastic wings, that when hovering over a flower, 



