On the Humming-birds of the Equatorial Andes. 189 



is variously given — by Latham as nut-brown, by Cassell 

 as purple, and by Bonaparte as olive-grey ; but Gurney, in 

 his ' Raptorial Birds in the Norwich Museum,' states it cor- 

 rectly as pale brown in the male, and carbuncle-red in the 

 female — a singular difference between the sexes. In young 

 birds the colour is dark brown, which changes with change of 

 plumage. They are peculiarly elongated, not sunken in the 

 head as the eagle's, and very far back, being an inch and a 

 half behind the gape, while those of the eagle are directly 

 over it. The bill is shorter and weaker than the eagle's, and 

 the decurved tip of the upper mandible only one-third as long. 

 The tongue is canaliculate, with serrated edges, which obviously 

 assists in deglutition, as the head is never raised to swallow 

 food. The caruncle and wattle are wanting in the female. 

 The downy ruff is more prominent in the male, but in neither 

 sex completes a circle. The primaries are black, the third 

 and fourth being equal and longest — a feature wanting in the 

 Old- World vultures. The secondaries are exteriorly edged 

 with white. The tail is of twelve feathers, black and even. 

 Legs feathered to the tarsus. Toes united by a small mem- 

 brane ; the middle one is excessively long ; the third one 

 comparatively undeveloped, by which the foot is rendered less 

 prehensile than that of other Baptores. Claws blunt, as 

 might be expected from its habit of standing on the rocks ; 

 nor are sharp talons wanted, as it seldom seizes living prey. 

 The nail of the hind toe is more curved than the other three, 

 but far less than the talons of the eagle. The female condor 

 is smaller than the male — an unusual circumstance in this 

 order, the feminine eagles and hawks being larger than their 

 mates. 



Our knowledge of the habits and economy of the Trochilidge 

 is very meagre. The relationship between the genera is not 

 clear, and one species is no more typical than another. The 

 only well-marked divisions we can discover are those adopted 

 by Gould and Gray — the Phaethornithinae and Polytminge. 

 The former, popularly called '■'■ hermits," are dull-coloured 

 and frequent the dense forests. They are more numerous on 

 the Amazon than the other group ; and I know of no speci- 

 men from the Quito valley, or from any altitude above 10,000 

 feet. They usually build long purse-like nests of vegetable 

 fibres, covered with lichens and lined with silk-cotton, and 

 hung from the extremities of leaves over watercourses. 

 . The Polytminse comprise the vast majority of the humming- 

 birds, or nearly nine-tenths. They delight in sunshine ; and 

 the males generally are remarkable for their brilliant plumage. 



