INTRODUCTION. 



The questions have often been asked, whence is the term Humming-Bird derived, and why is the bird so 

 called. I n)ay state in reply that, owing to the rapid movement of the wings ot most of the members of 

 this group, but especially of the smaller species, a vibratory or humming sound is produced while the bird 

 is in the air, which may be heard at the distance of several yards, and that it is from this circumstance 

 that the trivial name by which these birds are known in England has arisen. In France they are recognized 

 by the terms Oiseau-mouche and Colibri ; in Germany their common appellation is Kolibri ; by the Dutch 

 they are called Kolibrielje\ by the Spaniards Pica flares and Tomino^ by the Portuguese Tomeneco and 

 BeijafloT\ in the neighbourhood of Xalapa they are known by the names of Chupa-rosa and Chupa-myrta, 

 Rose-sucker and Myrtle-sucker ; by the Creoles of the Antilles and Guiana they are known by the names 

 of Murmures, Bourdons, and Frou-frous. From the Mexicans, Peruvians, and other nations of South 

 America they have received various appellations, such as Ourissia, hiiitzitzil, tzitztototl, guarnmbi, quinti or 

 quintiut, quinde, micilin, pigda, and courbiri, — all terms of a metaphorical character, signifying "rays of the 

 sun," " tresses of the day-star," " murmuring birds," &c. 



Liimseus applied to the whole of the species known to him the generic appellation of Trochilus (a name 

 given by the ancients to some fabulous little bird), whence is derived the family designation Tro- 

 cHiLiD^. By Brisson, a contemporary of Linnaeus, the terms Polytmus and MelUsuga were proposed ; but 

 with respect to some of the thirty-six species described by him, as well as by the older writers such as Seba, 

 Marcgrave, Willughby, Ray, &c., it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to determine what they really 

 were. We may, however, fairly commence our investigations with a greater chance of accuracy from the 

 date when the great Swedish naturalist commenced his labours. By him twenty-two species were enumerated 

 in the twelfth edition of his ' Systema Naturae.' In Gmelin's, or the thirteenth edition, the list is increased 

 to sixty-seven. Of these I have determined about two-thirds; the remainder must for ever continue 

 involved in mystery, and their names be erased from our scientific works — the descriptions being extremely 

 meagre, and the synonyms occasionally referring to figures of very different species. In some instances, 

 even, the species are attributed to countries where Humming-Birds are never found ; while in others, such 

 as that of the Harlequin Humming-Bird, the characters are taken from a plate which must have been drawn 

 from imagination and not from any real specimen. These are a few of the difficulties which a naturalist 

 has to encounter when access to the types cannot be obtained, I think it necessary to make this statement 



