HUMMING-BIRD. 



74* 



The ufe of the bill in moll birds is to collect the food j but in 

 this genus it feems to ferve for little other purpofe than as a cafe 

 of defence for the tongue, as it is by means of this laft alone that 

 It gets its nourifhment, which is ever in a liquid ftate, and which it 

 draws up in the manner of the Elephant, by means of the probofcis, 

 or, to defcend to the lefler animals, in the common Fly, by its 

 trunk ; though indeed neither of thefe is quite to our purpofe, but 

 the tongue or trunk of what is called the Hawk-Moth * is exactly 

 fimilar : this laft is compofed of a double tube, and is bifid at the 

 end like that of a Humming-Bird •, the difference is merely, that 

 in the laft the tongue is elongated or contracted in a ftrait direc- 

 tion, defended by the bill ; in the Hawk-Moth it is coiled up in a 

 ipiral manner, like the fpring of a watch, and in this fituation is 

 guarded by a lateral valve on each fide. We cannot here enter 

 into further particulars, as fuch a difquifition, if carried to a pro- 

 per length, would be fitter for an anatomical, than any other de- 

 fcription of the fubject in queftion. 



*With CURVED BILLS. 



Trochilus paradifeus, Lin. SyJ?. i. p. 189. N° 1. 



Le Colibry rouge hupe a longue queue du Mexique, Sri/, orn, iii. p. 69Z. 



N° 16. 

 Mellivora avis criftata, Sec. Se&a, i. p. 97. t. 6i. f. 4, 

 Le Colibri huppe, Buf. cif. vi. p. 54. 



'"'jpHE length is eight inches and a half. Bill thirteen lines and' 



a half in length, crooked, and black : the general colour 



of the bird is an elegant red : the feathers on the top of the head 



* Genus Sphinx of Linnaus- 



sc 



PARADISE 

 HUMMING- 

 BIRD. 



Description,. 



are 



