HUMMING-BIRDS. 



attacked by them when they approach too near their nests. It 

 is stated that they have also a great dislike to the large Hawk- 

 moths or Sphinges, which they themselves somewhat resemble in 

 their flight, the vibration of the wings producing in both a 

 similar humming sound. 



Humming-birds are extremely difficult to keep in confinement, 

 owing probably to the impossibility of providing them with suitable 

 food and with the means of indulging in their long and ceaseless 

 flights. Liberty is to them life. Mr. Gould succeeded in bringing 

 one alive to London, but it died two days after its arrival. In 

 their native country they survive the loss of their liberty for 

 a few months, and are said to become at once familiar to the 

 persons attending to them. 



Humming-birds are entirely confined to the New World *. 

 In popular accounts they are not rarely mentioned as occurring 

 in Africa, India, and other tropical parts of the Old World ; but 

 the birds thus misnamed belong to a very different group, viz. 

 the Nectariniidce or Sun-birds, which, indeed, offer a striking ex- 

 ternal resemblance to the true Humming-birds, but differ from 

 them in the structure of the feet and tongue, in the shape of the 

 sternum, and other most important characters. Altogether about 

 430 different kinds of Humming-birds are known. They range 

 from Sitka in the far North-west to Tierra del Fuego, and from 

 the lowlands near the coast to an altitude of 16,000 feet on the 

 Andes. The northern and southern species, however, are 

 migrants, and retire at the end of the short summer of the high 

 latitudes towards the equator. The number of species increases 

 as we approach the equator, the tropical forest-regions pro- 

 ducing them in the greatest variety. An idea of the abundance 

 of some of the species may be obtained from the fact that their 

 skins have been for many years an article of trade, tens of 

 thousands being annually exported from Bogota and various 

 places in Brazil, and sold in London, Paris, and New York. 



Leaving out of consideration the species which have a wide 



* The accompanying map shows the distribution of the Humming-birds over 

 North and South America, the depth in the shade of colour being in proportion to 

 the abundance of species in the several subregions. 



