164 The Bird 
The great extent to which all the external organs 
and parts of birds are adapted to facilitate the obtain- 
ing of food is evident in every species; but in humming- 
birds this adaptation is especially apparent, because we 
can compare these feathered mites with other creatures 
far beneath them structurally, but with feeding habits 
and general environment so similar that such a com- 
parison is fraught with interest. These other creatures 
to which I refer are hummingbird moths. Again and 
again collectors have shot the moths, mistaking them 
for hummingbirds, as the manner of flight is the same 
in both, and the way in which each species poises before 
a flower, probing it with proboscis or bill, is identical. 
Of the way this wonderful resemblance is carried out 
even in details of the body Bates writes: “It is certainly 
very curious, and strikes me even when both are in the 
hand. Holding them sideways, the shape of the head 
and position of the eyes in the moth are seen to be nearly 
the same as in the bird, the extended proboscis represent- 
ing the long beak. At the tip of the moth’s body there 
is a brush of long hair-scales resembling feathers, which 
being expanded look very much like a bird’s tail.” 
It seems very improbable that this resemblance can 
be attributed to mimicry, as neither has many danger- 
ous enemies, their marvellous powers of flight being an 
all-sufficient protection. So we are left to conclude that 
it is solely to similarity in method of seeking their food 
that the likeness is due. 
