LINDEN'S HELMET-CREST, OR BLACK WARRIOR. 173 



Botanical Garden of Jamaica ; and on the various trees, now growing to a luxuriant size, met 

 with many curious birds, among which this specimen was perched upon the bread-fruit or 

 cabbage-tree. lie poured forth his slight querulous note among a most numerous assemblage 

 of the indigenous and exotic plants and trees of the island, on a spot once the pride of 

 Jamaica, but now a desolate wilderness." This beautiful Humming-bird will be described 

 at length in a future page. 



To return to Salle's Hermit. The upper parts of its body are green-bronze, excepting the 

 upper tail-coverts, which are rusty-red. The wings are purple-brown. The central tail- 

 feathers are bronze, largely tipped with white, and the remaining feathers are white, with the 

 exception of a broad black band, drawn obliquely across them near the base. Above and 

 below the eye there is a white streak, and the color of the under parts of the body is 

 sober gray. 



A rather large species of Humming-bird is the Jacobin Humming-bird (Florisuga 

 mellivora). It is remarkable for the manner in which the rounded tail-feathers are arranged, 

 and the very long upper tail-coverts. This bird represents a beautifully-colored species, glow- 

 ing with boldly contrasted hues of white, blue, green, and black. 



It inhabits Cayenne, Guiana, Trinidad, and seems to have rather an extensive range, being- 

 found from Cayenne to Peru. It is a very curious species, inhabiting broad and hiiviatile 

 districts not more than two or three hundred feet from the level of the sea. The color is 

 very variable, but is generally a light blue upon the head and throat, with a large white 

 crescentic patch passing over the back of the neck. The back, the very long upper tail- 

 coverts, and a line extending to each side of the neck, are golden-green, and the wings are 

 purple-black, edged on the shoulders with golden-green. The tail is tipped with a narrow 

 band of black. Some individuals have a green mark upon the blue of the head, and others are 

 curiously mottled with white and brown. 



There are several species of this genus, among which may be mentioned the Great 

 Jacobin (Florisuga Jlabellif era), a truly beautiful bird, and much larger than the preceding 

 species. It is found in Tobago, in the Orinocos, and other neighboring localities. It lives 

 mostly in low marshy situations, chiefly upon plantations abroad, and generally feeds while 

 on the wing. Another curious species is the Pied Jacobin (Mellisuga atra), a bird which is 

 much blacker than either of the preceding. It inhabits the extreme parts of Brazil, from Per- 

 nambuco on the north to Rio Janeiro on the south. Like the preceding species, it is very 

 variable in coloring. 



The Helmet-crests are very curious birds, and are at once known by the singular pointed 

 plume which crowns the top of the head, and the long beard-like appendage to the chin. They 

 all live at a very considerable elevation, inhabiting localities of such extreme inclemency that 

 few persons would think of looking for a Humming-bird in such frozen regions. There are 

 several species of Helmet-crest, and their habits are well described by Mr. Linden, the dis- 

 coverer of Linden's Helmet-crest, in a letter written to Mr. Gould, and published in his 

 monograph of the Humming-birds. 



' ' I met with this species for the first time in August, 1842, while ascending the Sierra 

 Nevada de Merida, the crests of which are the most elevated of the eastern part of the Cordil- 

 leras of Columbia. It inhabits the regions immediately beneath the line of perpetual con- 

 gelation, at an elevation of from 12,000 to 13,000 feet above the level of the sea. Messrs. 

 Funck and Sclilim found it equally abundant in the Paramos, near the Sierra Nevada, at the 

 comparatively low elevation of 9,000 feet. It appears to be confined to the regions between 

 the eighth and ninth degrees of north latitude. 



It occasionally feeds upon the thinly-scattered shrubs of this icy region, such as the hype- 

 ricum, myrtus, daphne, arborescent espeletias, and towards the lower limit on bejarias, but 

 most frequently upon the projecting ledges of rocks near to the snow. Its flight is swift, but 

 very short ; when it leaves the spot upon which it has been perched, it launches itself obliquely 



