174 THE SICKLE-BILLS. 



downwards, uttering at the same time a plaintive wMstling sound, which is also occasionally- 

 littered while perched ; as well as I can recollect. I have never heard it produce the hum- 

 ming sound made by several other members of the same group, nor does it partake of their 

 joyous spirit or perpetual activity. Neither myself nor Messrs. Funck and Schlim were able 

 to discover its nest, although we all made a most diligent search. 



' ' Its food appears principally to consist of minute insects, all the specimens we procured 

 having their stomachs filled with small flies." 



The liead and neck of the adult male are black, a line of white running along the centre. 

 The long plumes of the throat are white. Round the neck and the back of the head runs a 

 broad white band. The upper surface of the body and the two central tail-feathers are bronze- 

 green, and the other feathei's are a warm reddish bronze, having the basal half of their shafts 

 white. The under surface is a dim brownish bronze. The length of the male bird is about 

 five and a quarter inches. The female is coppery-brown upon the head and upper surface of 

 the body, and there is no helmet-like j^lume on the head, nor beard-like tuft on the chin. The 

 throat is coppery-brown covered with white mottlings, and the flanks are coppery brown 

 washed with green. The length of the female is about one inch less than that of her mate. 



Another species, the Warrick of dealers, and the GtUEkin's Helmet-crest of naturalists 

 {Oxypogon gverenil), is an inhabitant of the higher parts of the Columbian Andes, where it is 

 tolerably common. It is easily to be distinguished from the preceding species by a bright 

 green line which passes down the centre of the beard, and of wliich only a very faint indication 

 is perceptible in the Black Warrior. There is also much more white upon the tail. 



There are several species of the Stak-throated Humming-birds, all of which are known 

 by the bright metallic gleam of the feathers on the throat. 



The Angela Star-throat inhabits Buenos Ayres and many parts of Brazil. It seems 

 not to be a very common bird, or at all events it is rarely found in collections. It is chiefly- 

 remarkable for the singular shape of its bill, which is evidently formed for the purpose of 

 enabling the creature to penetrate to the bottom of the curiously-shaped blossoms on which it 

 finds its sustenance. It feeds, apparently, upon the long-blossomed flowers of the llianas, 

 which are very plentiful in the regions inhabited by the Star-throat, and whose cups are 

 always filled with minute insects. The generic name, Heliomaster, is very appropriate, signi- 

 fying Sun-star. 



In the male, the crown of the head is metallic green, "shot" with ultramarine blue and 

 gold, and the upper surface of the body is golden-green, with more gold upon the lower j^art 

 of the back. The wings are purple-brown, and the tail purple-black with dark green gloss. 

 Behind each eye there is a white spot, and a gray streak is drawn through the cheeks. The 

 centre of the throat is a brilliant crimson, shining efi'ulgently as if made of living fire, and 

 edged with long feathers of a deep blue. The under surface is dark green, changing to rich 

 blue in the centre, and on each side of the flanks there is a tuft of white feathers. The under 

 tail-coverts are green, fringed with white. 



The female is gold bronze on the upi^er part of the body, and the cro^vn of her head is 

 grayish. There is no crimson or blue on the thi'oat ; it is sinqjly gray, covered with pale 

 brown spots. 



The very remarkable bird whose portrait is seen in the accompanying illustration affords 

 another example of the wonderful adaptation of means to ends which is often found among 

 these birds. In the Sword-bill Humming-bird, sketched on a foregoing page, the beak is 

 enormously lengthened, in order to enable it to feed on the long bell-like flowers wherein it 

 finds its sustenance, and a similar modification of stnu-ture may be seen in the Star-throats. 

 In the Sickle-bills, however, which feed on the short curved flowers of those regions, the 

 bill is also short and very sharply curved, in order to suit the peculiar shape of the flowers. 

 This Sickle-bill is a very rare bird, and is found sparingly in Bogota and Veragua. The 

 plumage is not very brilliant in its hues, but the various tints -with which it is colored are 

 pleasing in their arrangement, and give to the bird a very pretty aspect. 



