162 INSESSORES. 



from Martin's " Humming Birds of Gould's Colleo 

 tion:" 



" In the latter part of February a friend showed 

 me a nest of this species, in a singular situation, but 

 which I afterward found to be quite in accordance 

 with its usual habits. It was at Bognie, situated on 

 the Bluefield Mountain. About a quarter of a mile 

 within the woods, a blind path, choked up with bushes, 

 descends suddenly beneath an overhanging rock of 

 limestone, the face of which presents large projec- 

 tions and hanging points, encrusted with a rough tu- 

 berculous sort of stalactite. At one corner of the 

 bottom there is a cavern, in which a tub is fixed, to 

 receive water of great purity, which perpetually drips 

 from the roof, and which in the dry season is a most 

 valuable resource. Beyond this, which is very ob- 

 scure, the eye penetrates to a larger area, deeper still, 

 which receives light from some other communication 

 with the air. Bound the projections and groins of 

 the front, the roots of the trees above have entwined, 

 and to a fibre of one of these, hanging down, not 

 thicker than a whip- cord, was suspended a Humming 

 Bird's nest, containing two eggs. It seemed to be 

 composed wholly of moss, was thick, and attached to 

 the rootlet by the side. One of the eggs was broken. 

 I did not disturb it, but after three weeks visited it 

 again. It had apparently been handled by some cu- 

 rious child, for both eggs were broken and the nest 

 evidently deserted. While I lingered in this roman- 

 tic place, picking up some of the land shells which 

 were scattered among the rooks, suddenly I heard the 



