THE HUMMING BIRDS. 157 



jewelled bands, with untiring wing, suck the sweet 

 nectar from some favorite flower, or with the velocity 

 of thought flash like meteors across the vision, in 

 pursuit of their prey. 



The traveller who has visited the haunts of these 

 birds, can alone possess an adequate idea of their 

 surpassing loveliness. As they seldom live long in 

 confinement, almost the only impression we can form 

 of them is gained from the descriptions of those who 

 have observed their habits in their native woods, and 

 from the examination of the stuffed skins in our cab- 

 inets. The varieties of form, size, and color are so 

 many, and the general development of the organs is 

 so various, that in viewing a collection of these lovely 

 creatures, one cannot but wonder at so wide a difi'er- 

 ence between them, while a general resemblance is- 

 constantly preserved. 



In the island of Jamaica, and peculiar to that lo- 

 cality, is found a species familiarly known by the 

 name of Polytmus, or Black-headed Humming Bird, 

 — having two of the tail feathers lengthened to a 

 degree quite disproportionate, being more than twice 

 the length of the body ; while in the Andes of Bo- 

 gota there exists a variety (Sword-bill) with the bill 

 protruded to such an astonishing extent, as almost to 

 make one laugh at the magnitude of the supposed 

 deformity. From Brazil and Guiana we receive 

 specimens having crests on the head, and lateral 

 tufts on the neck, capable of being raised or depressed 

 at pleasure, and which, when fully expanded, give 

 the bird the appearance of being possessed of two 

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