xiv INTRODUCTION. 



lower elevations situated more to the eastward. These ranges are the sources of numerous rivers, some 

 of which have a northerly course, such as the Atrato, Cauca, and the great Magdalena, which debouch 

 into the Caribbean Sea, and the river Zulia, which empties itself into the Lake of Maracaybo. Some of 

 the very finest species yet discovered were collected near the town of Pamplona, which is situated on the 

 banks of the last-mentioned river. The country round Antioquia, situated on the lower, and Popayan on 

 the upper part of the Cauca, appear also to be very rich in natural productions, and particularly so in 

 Humming-Birds. It is, however, on the paramos which surround Bogota, and on the luxuriantly-clad sides 

 of the valleys through which flows the main stream of the Magdalena, that the greatest number of species 

 have been discovered. Bogota, the capital of this district, has for a long time been the centre whence 

 collections have been transmitted to Europe and the United States. The Indians have been initiated into 

 the modes of preparing these lovely objects ; and as gain and excitement have thus gone hand in hand, this 

 part of America may be said to have been thoroughly ransacked, and I expect that but few novelties remain 

 to be discovered therein. Now as most of the productions that have yet reached us from Antioquia and 

 Pamplona, two districts lying in about the same parallel of latitude on either side the great valley of the 

 Magdalena, are quite distinct and different from those of Bogota, we may safely infer that, if they were as 

 closely searched, many new species would be found. The country of the Caraccas and Cumana have 

 Humming-Birds which partake less of the characters of the mountain species, and assimilate more closely 

 to those of the Guianas and Northern Brazil. It will be seen, I think, from what I have here said, that 

 the species of Humming-Birds increase in numbers as we proceed towards the equator; that most of them 

 are confined to countries having peculiar physical characters ; and that those of New Granada differ consi- 

 derably from the Humming-Birds of Veragua, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. I have observed an equally 

 marked difference in the species which inhabit the high lands giving rise to the rivers which run eastward ; 

 I mean the many tributaries of the Napo, the Caqueta or Japura, and the Amazon. 



From the eastern side of Chimborazo flow many streams which ultimately find their way into the Amazon ; 

 and however numerous the species found in the elevated districts of New Granada may be, I believe that 

 when the dense and luxuriant forests bordering these well-watered lands are fully investigated, the species 

 inhabiting them will be found far to exceed in number those of every other district. Even the snowy 

 Chimborazo may be said to be inhabited by Humming-birds : certain it is that the Oreotrochilm Chimborazo 

 lives upon it just below the line of perpetual congelation, some of my specimens of this bird killed by 

 M. Bom'cier bearing on the attached labels an elevation of 16,000 feet; and Mr. Eraser, I believe, killed 

 others in an equally elevated region. Here, then, is a bird which encounters the cold blasts of these lofty 

 situations with impunity, dwelling in a world of almost perpetual sleet, hail, and rain, and there feeding upon 

 the insects which resort to the Chuquiraga insignis and other flowering plants peculiar to the situation. 

 These truly alpine birds have always a great charm with me ; and as the species just mentioned is especially 

 beautiful, it is of course a great favourite. Besides Chimborazo, there exist many other cones of but little 

 less elevation, such as Pichincha, Cotopaxi, and Cayambe, which, strange to say, are reported to be 

 frequented by species peculiar to each ; and if this be the case, how many summits as yet untrodden may 

 reveal forms at present unknown to us ? Now what I have said with regard to the gradual increase of 

 Humming-Bird life from the north to the equator may be equally said of their increase towards the same 

 line from the south. The species there found, although quite different from those of the north, perform 

 precisely the same functions, are subject to the same migratory movements, &c. 



