572 The Andes and the Amazons. 



heavier on one side than on the other, was weighted with 

 a small stone to preserve the equilibrium. A few Hum- 

 mers, as the Glaucis of the lowlands, lay but a single egg ; 

 but the usual number is two, and they are always of a 

 pinkish hue when freshly laid. The spotted egg of a spe- 

 cies on the Upper Amazons, noticed by Edwards, has not 

 been seen by other observers. The time of incubation at 

 Quito is twelve days, varying a day more or less, accord- 

 ing to the weather. There is but one brood a year, as with 

 T. cohibris, in our Northern States. But in our Southern 

 States, and in Brazil, there are generally two. Drapiez 

 says " sometimes four broods ;" but we conjecture that this 

 is a mistake. 



No insessorial bird seeks its food at so great an eleva- 

 tion as the Oreoti'ochilus.^ This has been seen clinging 

 to the volcanic cliffs of Chimborazo ; but no other Hum- 

 mer has been observed to alight on the ground, for which, 

 in fact, their sharp, hooked nails are ill fitted. When 

 perching on a branch, all Hummers remain motionless. 

 Of the sixteen genera represented in the valley of Quito, 

 the average length of the bill is three fourths of an inch ; 

 and the most numerous plants are the Composite, Scro- 

 phulariacese, and Labiatse. The curve - billed Eutoxeres 

 is usually seen around the fuschias or the scales of the 

 palms, seeking for spiders. The OreotrochiluB feeds its 

 young by bringing them flowers of the myrtle ; then throw- 

 ing them away, it goes for more. As Bates has said, Hum- 

 mers "do not proceed^ in that methodical manner which 

 bees follow, taking the flowers seriatim, but skip about 

 from one part of the tree to another in the most capricious 

 way." No other vertebrate has a tubular tongue, an or- 

 gan adapted for gathering both insects and honey.f No 



* We have seen flies on Pichincha at the height of 15,700 feet. 



t Dr. Crisp contends that the bifid portion of the tongue is not hollow, but 



