556 HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. 



the T)ird contrives to mould the apparently intractable substance 

 into the shape which is represented in the illustration. The 

 non-botanical reader may form an idea of the appearance of the 

 nest, by supposing it to be made of German tinder, which is, in 

 fact, a kind of boletus which has been pressed, dried, and steeped 

 in a weak solution of nitre. 



The lower figure in the same illustration represents the nest 

 of another Humming Bird {Phaethomis eurynome), belonging to 

 the pretty little group which are popularly called Hermits, and 

 which may be recognised by the peculiar shape of the tail, which 

 is regularly graduated, the two central feathers being, however, 

 much longer than the others. They are inhabitants of Venezuela. 



AU the Hermits are remarkable for the beauty of their homes, 

 and the present species is mentioned as affording a good example 

 of nest-making. The nest is always long and funnel-shaped, 

 and is hung either to a leaf or the delicate twig of a tree, accord- 

 ing to circumstances. The materials of which the nest is made 

 are rather various, consisting of vegetable fibres, especially those 

 downy, cotton-like filaments which are furnished by so many 

 plants, of small herbs, and spider webs. The last mentioned 

 substance is employed for the purpose of binding the materials 

 together, and is used also in fastening the nest to the support on 

 which it hangs. 



There is another species of this beautiful group, called the 

 EuBY-THEOATED HUMMING BiKD {TrocMlus colulris), wMch is 

 generally accepted as the typical species. This lovely bird is 

 plentiful in many parts of America, and is sometimes seen 

 as far north as Canada. It derives its popular name from the 

 feathers of the throat, which glitter as if made of burnished 

 metal, and glow with alternate tints of ruby and orange. 

 The general colour of the body is green, and the wings are 

 purple-brown. The two sexes are coloured after the same 

 manner, with the exception of the ruby gorget, which only be- 

 longs to the male, and which is not attained untU the second 

 year. There is no species more common in museums and orna- 

 mental cases than this, because it is as plentiful as it is lovely. 

 That it should be plentiful, or indeed that any species of Hum- 

 ming Bird should be anything but scarce, is matter of wonder, 

 inasmuch as they hl'Vlt lay muru tliaii two eggs, and in all proba- 



