THE HUMMING BIRDS. 39 
own powers, they will ever hover about one side of a shrub while flowers 
or fruits are picked from the opposite. As we recede from the tropics on 
either side the numbers decrease, though some species are found in Mexico, 
and others in Peru, which do not appear to exist elsewhere. Thus Mr. Bul- 
lock discovered several species at a high elevation, and consequently low 
temperature, on the lofty table-lands of Mexico, and in the woods in the 
vicinity of the snowy mountains of Orizaba; while Captain King, in his 
survey of the southern coasts, met with numerous members of this dimin- 
utive family flying about in a snow storm, near the Straits of Magel- 
lan, and discovered two species in the remote island of Juan Fernandez. 
“Two species only spread far into the Northern Continent of America; the 
one, the Ruff-necked Humming Bird, which was discovered by Captain Cook 
in Nootka Sound, and has been traced by Kotzebue to 61° along the western 
shores; the other, the Northern or Ruby-throated Humming Bird, so beau- 
tifully described by Wilson. ‘This species has been obtained from the plains 
of the Saskatchewan, and was found breeding, by Mr. Drummond, near the 
sources of the Elk River. It is known to reach as far north as the fifty- 
seventh parallel.” 
The velocity with which the Humming Birds glance through the air is 
extraordinary, and so rapid is the vibration of their wings that the action 
eludes the sight: when hovering before a flower, they seem suspended as if 
by some magic power, rather than by the vigorous movement of their rigid 
pinions, which, however, produce a constant murmur or buzzing sound, 
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whence the Enelish title by which we designate these birds, and the Creole 
epithets in Cayenne and the Antilles, viz., Murmures, Bourdons, and Frou- 
frous. 
It has been frequently and justly observed that in their mode of flight 
the Humming Birds closely resemble the sphinx-moths or the dragon-tlies. 
Mr. Darwin, in his admirable “Journal,” states, that while at Bahia, he 
started early one morning, and walked to the top of the Gavia or Topsail 
Mountain. “The air was delightfully cool and fragrant, and the drops of 
dew were still glittering on the leaves of the large liliaceous plants which 
shaded the streamlets of clear water. Sitting down on a rock of granite, 
it was delightful to watch the various insects and birds as they flew past. 
The Humming Birds seemed particularly fond of such shady, retired spots : 
whenever I saw these little creatures buzzing round a flower, with their 
wings vibrating so rapidly as to be scarcely visible, I was reminded of the 
sphinx-moths ; their movements and habits are, indeed, in many respects, 
very similar.” 
Bullock and Wilson both notice the surprising rapidity of the vibrations 
of their wings. The former, speaking of specimens caged, says, that in a 
