of the Equatorial Andes. 191 



of the lowlands, the purple-eared [Petasophora lolata) alone 

 of the Quito species hangs its nest over a stream of water. 

 As to the materials of the nest, I have noticed a fact which 

 I cannot explain : our northern hummer glues lichens all 

 over the outside ; so do a number of species in Brazil, 

 Guiana, &c. ; but in the valley of Quito, moss is invariably 

 used, not a particle of lichen have we seen on any nest, 

 though lichens abound*. Mr. Gould mentions a nest which, 

 being heavier on one side than the other, was weighted with 

 a small stone to preserve the equilibrium. A few hummers, 

 as the Glaucis of the lowlands, lay but a single Q^g ; but the 

 usual number is two ; and they are always of a pinkish hue 

 when freshly laid. The spotted egg of a species on the 

 Upper Amazon, noticed by Edwards, has not been seen by 

 other observers. The time of incubation at Quito is twelve 

 days, varying a day more or less, according to the weather. 

 There is but one brood a year, as with T. cohchris, in our 

 Northern States ; but in our Southern States, and in Brazil, 

 there are generally two. Drapiez says, " sometimes four 

 broods ;" but we conjecture that this is a mistake. 



No insessorial bird seeks its food at so great an elevation 

 as the OreotrocMhisf. This has been seen clinging to the 

 volcanic cliffs of Chimborazo ; but no other hummer has 

 been observed to alight on the ground, for which, in fact, their 

 sharp, hooked nails are ill fitted. Of the sixteen genera re- 

 presented in the valley of Quito, the average length of the 

 bill is three-fourths of an inch ; and the most numerous plants 

 are the Compositaj, Scrophulariacete, and Labiata?. The 

 curved-billed Eutoxeres is usually seen around the fuchsias or 

 thescalesof the palms, seeking for spiders. The OreotrocMlus 

 feeds its young by bringing them flowers of the myrtle ; then 

 throwing them away, it goes for more. As Bates has said, 

 hummers '' do not proceed in that methodical manner which 

 bees follow, taking the flowers seriatim^ but skip about from 

 one part of the tree to another in the most capricious way." 

 No other vertebrate has a tubular tongue, an organ adapted 

 for gathering both insects and honey:}:. No other family of 

 birds contains so many species ; nor has any other group such 



* A similar variation is seeu in the nests of tlie cliimney-swallows : 

 our species (Ch(etwa jyekm/ia) builds of twigs glued together with saliva ; 

 while its Quito representative ( C. rutilu ) builds of mud and moss. 



t We have seen Hies on Picliincha at the height of nearly 1(5,000 feet. 



X Dr. Crisp contends that the bifid portion of the tongue is not hollow, 

 but is composed of solid cartilaginous material. The same anatomist 

 also asserts, in opposition to the opinion of Professor Owen, that the 

 bones of the hummer, like those of the swallow, do not contain air. 



