50 CASSELLS BOOK OF BIRDS. 



white spot is placed behind the eye ; the wings are purplish brown ; the tail feathers dark brown, with 

 a metallic green lustre ; the beak is blackish brown, and foot yellowish brown. The male is eight 

 inches and a half long (of this measurement four inches belong to the beak) ; the wing is three inches, 

 and the tail two inches and a halt. The female is of paler hue on the beak, and spotted with white 

 and brown on the under side, enlivened by a metallic shimmer on the sides ; her entire length is seven 

 inches and a half, the beak measuring but three inches. This new and remarkable species, we are 

 told by Gould, inhabits the magnificent region of Santa Fe de Bogota, and was also seen in the 

 Caracas and Quito by Mr. Hartwig, the celebrated botanist and traveller, who states that he 

 observed it engaged in procuring insects from the lengthened corollas of flower-bells, for e.Kploring 

 which its elongated beak is admirably fitted ; affording another instance of the wonderful adaptation 

 of structure to a special purpose so frequently observable in every department of Nature's works. 



The GNOMES {Folyiiniis) are moderately large and powerfully built birds, wth strong, medium- 

 sized, and more or less curved beaks ; the foot is furnished with short toes and long claws ; the wings 

 are slightly curved ; the broad tail, which is scarcely longer than the closed pinion, has its two 

 exterior feathers much shortened. The plumage is not remarkable for its brilliancy, being usually of 

 a greenish or brownish shade above, and brown variously spotted beneath ; the outer tail-feathers 

 have light tips ; the sexes are almost alike in colour. 



THE SAW-BILL. 



The Saw-bill (Gryptts navius) is at once recognisable by its straight, powerful beak, -which rises 

 high at its base, and is twice the length of the head, and by its broad tail, the two outer feathers 

 of which are short. Upon the back the plumage is of a pale metallic green, glowing with a reddish 

 lustre ; the brow and cro\vn of head are dark brown ; all the feathers on the mantle, except those on 

 the wing-covers, are edged with reddish yellow ; the sides of the neck are yellowish red ; a narrow 

 line that passes along the throat, the breast, belly, and rump are yellowish white, each feather striped 

 with black ; another pale reddish yellow line passes over the eyes ; the quills are black, those at the 

 exterior enlivened by a violet gloss ; the centre tail-feathers are green and the outermost reddish 

 yellow ; the eye is dark brown ; the upper mandible black, and the lower yellowish white ; the foot is 

 flesh-pink. The body is five inches and three-quarters long j the wing measures three inches, and the 

 tail one inch and a half. 



" The Grypus navius, says M. DeyroUe, " is common in all the provinces of Santa Caterina, in 

 Brazil, but is more frequently met with in woody situations than elsewhere. Its flight is exceedingly 

 noisy, very vigorous, and capable of being sustained for a great length of time, the bird rarely 

 alighting. Its cry is so loud and piercing as to be heard above everything else, while it flutters round 

 the flowers of various species of orchids, from which it obtains its principal nourishment." 



" In all probability," says Gould, " the serrations with which the cutting edges of both mandibles 

 of this bird are furnished are expressly provided to enable it to capture with facility some peculiar 

 kinds of insect food; perhaps spiders and small coleoptera. The nest sent to me by Mr. Reeves is 

 precisely similar in size, form, and situation to those constructed by the members of the genus 

 Fhaetornis, being of a lengthened, pointed form, composed of fine vegetable fibres and mosses, 

 intermingled \vith which, especially on the lower part, are portions of dead leaves and pieces of lichen 

 attached to the extremities of the leaves of apparently a species of palm." 



The velocity with which these Humming Birds glance through the air is extraordinary, and so 

 rapid is the vibration of their wings, that their movement eludes the sight ; when hovering before a 

 flower, they seem suspended as if by some magic power. 



