152



A French Member of the Society,



it, as in nature they do over flowers. Their diet is practically that

of my Sunbirds: the usual mixture of Mellins’ Food, honey and

condensed milk, made perhaps a trifle weaker ; then a variety of

fruit, such as sweet grapes and oranges and very soft, ripe pears.

Flowers I have not found yet to really suit their taste, though many

have been tried. They scorned Madonna Lilies, Tiger Lilies and

Tuberoses, after just probing the blossoms a few times ; Honeysuckle

was more appreciated, as well as some other flowers of the tubular

type, provided they were not white : red seems to be a favourite shade

and to at once arrest their attention. For many months it was

impossible to get a single one of the Hummers to eat insects. I

tried the most tempting green fly, and those tiny Coleoptera that

abound in the spring amongst shrubs and in meadow's, without the

slightest success. It was, I think, last September, the windows

being wide open in the bird-room on a sunny day. that I observed

some of the Garnets in the aviary snapping at something in the

air: and the act was repeated many times in a minute. Snap,

snap, went the beak, as the bird hummed, whirred, twisted, and

turned about in space, performing gnat-like, a veritable dance in

the air, and each time the shining garnet-throat glistened and moved

as for the operation of swallowing. So minute was the prey that

it took me a long time to actually catch and study it : tiny insects

called, I believe, September flies. I have not once seen my

Hummers take insects in any other way except on the wing; and

although all in my aviary would crowd round me, buzzing about

my head and body like a swarm of bees, and feeding from the

hand that held the syrup-pot, none ever consented to touch live

prey if this were offered them, and not actually caught by them¬

selves in the manner described. On this point my experience differs

from Mr. Ezra’s. The Eulampis jugularis he had from me, does

not so far care for insects; but he has another species—a charming

little bird obtained from Cuba —Sporadinus ricordi, whose portrait

appeared in the February magazine as the coloured frontispiece,

and this bird from the very first showed himself most eager for

green fly, which he picks up anyhow and anywhere, from the

plant, the bars or floor of his cage, or in the air, indifferently.

However individuals and species may display their peculiarities,



