34S 



AVES— SUB-ORDER COLII. 



Fig. 



HuMMING-BlKD. 



number, while the secondaries are only six. The first primary-quill is some- 

 times attenuated {Atthls, Aglceactis, etc.), while in some genera, such aa 

 Co.m^ylopterus, the shafts of the primaries are broad and stiffened. The tail 

 is of various shapes, sometimes square, sometimes rounded, 

 or, as in the genus Phcethornis, graduated, with the two 

 central rectrices elongated and pointed. Many genera have 

 forked tails, with the outer tail-feather elongated, especi- 

 ally in the male. The racket-tailed humming-birds have a 

 forked tail, with the outer rectrix ending in a spatule or 

 racket. In some genera, like the shear-tails {Tliaumastura) 

 or the stars (Gtuetocercus), all the tail-feathers are pointed 

 and spine-like, and in the king humming-birds (Topaza), the 

 central feathers are elongated and curved, crossing each 

 other at the same time. The most remarkable; however, 

 of all the humming-birds, as regards its tail, is Loddigesia 

 mirahilis from the Upper Amazons. In the female and 

 young male, ten rectrices are present as usual, but in 

 the adult male there are only four, a very small pair in the middle, and an 

 elongated pair on the outside, which cross each other and end in a " boss " 

 or "racket." Some of the upper tail-coverts are so lengthened that they 

 appear to be part of the tail. The flight of humming-birds is more hke 

 that of a hawk-moth than that of an actual bird, for the little creatures 

 hover in front of a flower, suspended, as it were, in the air, with their 

 wings vibrating so rapidly as to appear simjjy like a film. Their food 

 consists of the tiniest insects, and in the case of the sword-bill hummer 

 (Docimastes ensiferus) the bill is elongated to an enormous proportion, so that 

 the bird is able to probe long tubular flowers for its food. The nest of the 

 humming-birds is always beautiful, and is generally composed of the down of 

 plants, felted, and covered with spiders' webs or soft lichens. It is generally 

 round, but is occasionally purse-shaped, and is placed on a branch or at the 

 end of a leaf. The eggs are white, and two in number. 



The colies form a separate sub-order, which contains but a single genus, 

 Colius, with nine species, all peculiar to Africa. There are only ten tail- 

 feathers, and the hind-toe is 

 The Colies. — connected with the flexm- per- 

 Sul)-order Oolii. forans digitorvm tendon. The 

 bill is something like that of 

 a finch, and the birds have a slight crest. 

 The palate is bridged or desmognathous, and 

 the sternum has four notches on the posterior 

 margin. The position of the colies in the class 

 Aves has been much debated, and it seems to 

 us that their place in the natural system must 

 always be open to some comment, but they 

 must be placed somewhere near the trogons 

 and the touracoes. 



The colies have curious feet, all the four 

 toes being directed forward, the first one 

 being perhaps reversible ; the birds use their 

 feet for climbing, and they hang in peculiar positions. They make an open 

 nest, of grass and twigs, lined internally with soft grass, placed in a fork of 

 a tree, and the eggs are white. 



Fig. 81.— The Cape Coly (Coiius 

 colius). 



