THE 



ZOOLOGICAL JOURNAL. 



January — May^ 1829. 



Art. I. Extract of a Letter from Capt. Lyon, R.N., 

 Corr. Member Z. S., 8^c., to a Friend in England , dated 

 Gongo Soco, Brazil, 17 th March, 1829. 



I AM too closely confined here, and too constantly occupied to attend 

 much to Natural History, or any thing except the mines; but it may 

 interest you to have an account of some young Humming Birds whose 

 hatching and education I studiously attended, as the nest was made in a 

 little orange bush by the side of a frequented walk in my garden. It 

 was composed of the silky down of a plant, and covered with small flat 

 pieces of yellow lichen. The first egg was laid January 26th, the 

 second on the 28th, and two little creatures like bees made their appear- 

 ance on the morning of February 14th. As the young encreased in 

 size, the mother built her nest higher and higher, so that from 

 having at first the form of figure 1, it became ultimately like figure 2 



2. 



The old bird sat very close during a continuance of the heavy rain for 

 several days and nights. The young remained blind until February 28th, 

 Vol. V. A 



