VERVAIN HUMMING-BIRD.— MeWtoga mmima 



conspicuous towards its point, and the gold towards the base. The nest is a vei^ pretty 

 compact little structure, beautifully rounded, and composed chiefly of cotton fibres, inter- 

 mixed with the dried involucres of certain composite plants, and bound together with 

 spiders' web. 



The beautiful little Veevain Humming-bied is one of the minutest examples of 

 feathered life that are at present known to zoologists. In total length this bird does not 

 measure three inches ; while, as the tail occupies nearly an inch and the head half an inch, 

 the actual length of the body will be seen to be not quite an inch and a half It is a 

 native of Jamaica, and has been admirably described by Mr. Gosse, while treating of the 

 birds which inhabit that island. 



The name of Vervain Humming-bird has been given to this tiny creature, because it is 

 in the habit of feeding on the blossoms of the AVest Indian Vervam, but it is also known 

 under a variety of other titles, and has been described by many scientific writers under 

 different names. Speaking of this bird, Mr. Gosse says : — 



" The West Indian Vervain {Stachytarpheta) is one of the most common weeds in 

 neglected pastures, shooting up everywhere its slender columns set around with blue 

 flowers to the height of a foot. About these our little Humming-bird is abundant during 

 the summer months, pecking the azure blossoms a few inches from the ground. It visits 

 the spikes in succession, flitting from one to another exactly in the manner of the honey- 

 bee, and with the same business-like application and industry. In the winter, the abun- 

 dance of other flowers, and the paucity of vervain blossoms, induce its attentions to the 

 hedge-rows and woods. 



I have sometimes watched with much delight the evolutions of this little species at the 

 moringa tree. When only one is present, he pursues the round of lue blossoms soberly 

 enough. But if two are at the tree, one will fly off and suspend himself in the air a few 

 yards distant, the other presently starts off to him, and then, without touching each other, 

 they mount upward with strong rushing wings, perhaps for five hundred feet. They then 

 separate, and each starts diagonally towards the ground like a ball from a rifle, and 

 wheeling round comes up to the blossoms again, and sucks as if it had not moved away 

 at all. 



Frequently one alone will mount in this manner, or dart on invisible wing diagonally 

 upwards, looking exactly like a humble-bee. Indeed, the figure of the smaller Humming- 

 birds on the wing, their rapidity, their wavering course, and their whole manner of flight, 



