570 The Andes and the Amazons. 



other group ; and I know of no specimen from the Quito 

 valley, or from any altitude above 10,000 feet. They 

 usually build long purse-like nests of vegetable fibres, cov- 

 ered with lichens and lined with silk cotton, and hung 

 from the extremities of leaves over water-courses. 



The Polytminse comprise the vast majority of the Hum- 

 ming-birds, or nearly nine tenths. They delight in sun- 

 shine, and the males generally are remarkable for their 

 brilliant plumage. The diversified slopes of the Andes are 

 more favorable for their development than the uniform 

 plains. Their head-quarters seem to be in New Granada ; 

 but the precise distribution of the species is not so well 

 known as it might be. Near the equator the species are 

 nearly stationary ; some, as the Oreoiroehilus, are confined 

 to particular volcanoes, or an area of a few square miles. 

 There is, therefore, greater need of determining the pre- 

 cise locality of a specimen ; yet, in the best monograph on 

 the Trochilidfe (Mr. Gould's), species are assigned to such 

 indefinite regions as Ecuador, Peru, etc. But Ecuador 

 ascends from the sea-coast to 20,000 feet, and is traversed 

 by two Cordilleras and a plateau, making three very dis- 

 tinct districts; the faunae of the west slope, the Quito 

 valley, and the Napo country, being, with less than half 

 a dozen exceptions, entirely separate. Of the 430 known 

 species of Hummers, 27 are found in and around the val- 

 ley of Quito, 37 on the Pacific slope, and 20 on the oriental 

 side of the Andes — making a total of 84, or about one fifth 

 of the family, within the republic of Ecuador. The pauci- 

 ty of Hummers south of the equator, in comparison with 

 the number on or just above the line, has been accounted 

 for by the fact that the di-y and sterile plains of Peru and 

 the barren pampas of La Plata are unsuited to insect, and 

 therefore to Humming-bird, life. This can not be the 

 whole reason : for there are mvriads more of insects on 



