Ixii INTRODUCTION. 



with at certain seasons ; but whether it leaves the island, or retires to the interior, I am not at present prepared to 

 say. It is seldom to be found in open sunshine : the mornings and evenings are its principal times for feeding, and 

 its evolutions then are truly pleasing, — at one instant suspended immovable to the eye (although alternately 

 showing the purest white and green), at the very top of our tallest bamboo, guava, or other tree, and at the next 

 moment at the root, with two or three zigzags right and left, up and down, dipping either into the river or snapping 

 a fly from the surface, and then disappearing. I think it probable that this bird feeds more upon winged insects 

 than most of the others, which may account for its being seen so early in the calm mornings, retiring generally into 

 the thick wild plantain bushes as soon as the sun begins to spread his rays upon them, and appearing again in the 

 evening when he is going down, or when his rays cease to act upon their spot of pleasure. A female shot on the 

 19th of April contained an egg almost perfect."— //ora Zoologicts, by Sir W. Jardine, Bt., in Ann. and Mag, Nat. Hist. 

 vol. XX. p. 373, 



133. Florisuga ATRA Vol. II. PI. 1 15. 



Lampornis niger^ Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 156. 



Florisuga fusca, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col. p. 14 ; Id. Troch. Enum. p. 12 ; Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 29. 



Habitat. Eastern Brazil. 



That all the Humming-Birds are not yet discovered we may very reasonably conjecture, and we may ask what 

 will be our next novelty in this group of birds. This remark has suggested itself upon finding next in succession 

 the singular little Michrochera albocoronata. Although America has been discovered for more than 300 years, and 

 collectors have been employed for the last fifty in searching for its treasures of various kinds, we had no knowledge 

 of the existence of this bird until 1852, when Dr. J. K. Merritt shot three examples in the district of Belen in New 

 Granada. 



Genus Microchera, Gould. 



(fiLKpo9, parvus, et xvP^j vidua.) 

 Generic characters. 



Male. — Bill about the same length as the head, and straight ; wings moderate ; tail rather short and square ; 



tarsi clothed ; feet small ; claws diminutive. 



134. Microchera albocoronata, Gould Vol. II. PI. 116. 



Habitat. The district of Belen in New Granada. 



A considerable hiatus here occurs, which cannot at present be filled up, and we come to the elegant frill-necked 

 Coquettes, the Lophornithes ; and with these I commence the third volume. 



They are among the most beautiful of the smaller members of the Trochihdse, and are distinguished by the 

 possession of lengthened ornamental plumes springing from the sides of the neck, which generally have a spangle of 

 metallic lustre at the tip ; they are further ornamented with beautiful lengthened crests, which are developed to a 

 greater extent in some species than in others ; in those in which the neck-plumes are the longest, the crests are 

 least so, and vice versd. They are spread over a great part of America, from Mexico along the Andes to Bolivia; 

 they also occur in Brazil, the Guianas, and the Island of Trinidad. 



Genus LoPHORNis, Less. 



135. LoPHORNIS ORNATUS Vol. III. PI. 117. 



Habitat. Northern Brazil, Guiana, and Trinidad. 



Mr. W. Tucker informs me that in Trinidad this species "frequents the pastures and open places, and visits 

 the flowers of all the small shrubs, but is particularly fond of those of the Ipecacuanha plant, and that it is very 

 pugnacious, erecting its crest, throwing out its whiskers, and attacking every Humming-Bird that may pass within 

 its range of vision." 



136. LoPHORNIS GOULDI Vol. Ill PL 118. 



Habitat. Northern Brazil. 



