TUOClilLlD.K— THE IILMMINU-BIUDS. 443 



Mr. Salvia is of the opinion that Hunnninj^'-Ijirds do not roniain hjn^ on 

 tho wing at once, but rest Imiiiently, clioosing for that pur[iose a small dead 

 or leaHoss twig at the top, or just within the brandies of the tree. "While 

 in this position tiiey trim their feathers and clean their bill, all the time 

 keeping up an incessant jerking of tiieir wings and tail. 



In Mexico, where these liirds are very abundant, tiiey are attracted by the 

 blossoms of the Agave amcricniKt, and swarm around them like so many 

 beetles. As they fly, they skim over the fields, rifle the flowers, mingling 

 with the bees and the butterflies, and during the seasons of bloom, at cer- 

 tain hours of the day, the fields appear peri'ectly alive with tliein. The ear 

 receives unceasingly the whistling sounds of their flight, and their sliiill 

 cries, resembling in their shari) accent the clash of weapons. Although the 

 Hiiraming-Bird always migrates at the apiiroach of cold M-eather, yet it is 

 often to be found at very consideralile elevations. Tiie traveller IJourcier 

 met with them 011 tlic crater of richincha, and M. Saussure obtained speci- 

 mens of Culothorax liicifcr in the Sierra de (Jiiernavaca, at the heiglit of 

 more than 9,500 feet. 



While we must accept as a well-estal»lished fact that the IIumming-Kirds 

 feed on insects, demonstrated long since by naturalists, it is eipially true 

 that they are very fond of the nectar of flowers, and tliat this, to a certain 

 extent, constitutes their nourishment. This is shown liy the susleiiaiicc 

 which captive Humming-ljirds receive from iioney and otlier sweet sub- 

 stances, food to which a purely insectivorous bird coulil hardly ada[it itself. 



Notwithstanding their diminutive size the lliimming-lJirds are notorious 

 for their aggressive disiiosition. They attack with great fury aiiylliiiig that 

 excites their animosity, and maintain constant warfare with whatever is 

 obnoxious to them, expressly the Si)liinxes or Ilawk-Moths. Wheiuner 

 one of these inollensive moths, two or three times the size of a lluiiimiiig- 

 Rird, chances to come too early into the garden and encounters one of these 

 birds, he must give way or meet with certain injury. At sight of tlie 

 insect the bird attacks it with his i)ointed beak with great fury. The 

 Sphinx, overcome in this unlooked-for attack, beats a retreat, but, soon 

 returning to the attractive flowers, is again and again assaulted by its iiil'u- 

 riated enemy. Certain destruction awaits these insects if they do not 

 retire from the field before their delicate wings, lacerated in these attacks, 

 can no longer sujiport them, and they fall to the ground to perish from other 

 enemies. 



In other things the Huniming-llird also shows itself all the more imperti- 

 nent and aggressive that it is small and weak. It takes oflence at every- 

 thing that moves near it. It attacks birds nuicli larger than itself, and 

 is rarely disturbed or molested by those it thus assails. All other liirds 

 must make way. It is possible that in some of these attacks it may be in- 

 fluenced by an instinctive promiiting of advantages to be gained, as in the 

 case of the spider, in whose nets they are liable to be entangled, and mIiosc 



