298 THE VERVAIN HUMMING-BIRD. 
The general colour of this beautiful little bird is a brilliant metallic gréen, 
the wings being, as usual, purple-brown, and the tail deep black. The throat 
and chin are white, sprinkled profusely with little black spots, and the breast 
is pure white. The abdomen is also white, but diversified with a slight green 
tip to each feather, and the flanks are bright metallic green, nearly as resplen- 
, dent as upon the back. The under 
tail-coverts are white, with a few 
very pale green spots. The colours 
of the female are rather more dull 
than those of her mate, the green 
being tinged with yellow, and the 
under parts without the green spots. 
The first half of the tail is yellowish 
green, and all the feathers of the 
tail, with the exception of the two 
ZANT central feathers, are furnished with 
ll) Hy white tips. 
| The nest of the Vervain Humming- 
i Ips ' bird is very small, in accordance with 
the dimensions of the architect, is 
All if round and cup-like in shape, and 
RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. beautifully constructed of cotton 
(Colubris.) fibres and other soft and warm sub- 
stances. As is the case with the 
nests of almost all the species of Trochilidz, the rim is so made as to curve 
slightly inwards, and is, in all probability, constructed for the purpose of 
preventing the eggs from rolling out of the nest when the “ procreant cradle” 
is rocked by the tempestuous winds of the tropics. 
VERVAIN HUMMING-BIRD.---(A/eddisuga minima.) 
We now arrive at the CERTHID or CREEPERS, the best known of which 
is our English CREEPER. 
This little bird is one of the prettiest and most interesting of the feathered 
tribes that are found in this country. It is a very small bird, hardly so large 
as a sparrow, and beautifully slender in shape. The bill is rather long, 
