A FEW HUMMING BIRD NOTES. 
By OLIVER. 
These little sunbeams of birds, as the West- 
ern Indians called them, are only found in 
North and South America and the islands ad- 
jacent. They are more thickly distributed in 
the equatorial section, and are there known as 
“sun birds.” The peculiar and often beautiful 
tormation, and the iridescent coloration of their 
plumage, are characteristics that excite the 
wonder and admiration of all observers, natu- 
ralists and laymen. The long-tailed humming 
bird of Jamaica (Zréchilus polytmus) is more 
transcendent in beauty of form and color than 
the celebrated emerald Paradise bird of New 
Guinea, 
Some species range north to the Arctic re- 
gions and south to Patagonia, and from the 
level of the sea to the cold heights of the An- 
des, but, wherever found, the hues of emerald 
and ruby, and amethyst and topaz, flash from 
their beautiful forms. Everything in their or- 
ganization contributes to give them great 
power and rapidity of flight, and they are able 
to balance themselves in the air or beside a 
flower with a facility which finds a parallel 
only among some of the insects. The bill is 
awl-shaped, thin, sharp-pointed, straight or 
curved. The tongue, which is split almost to 
its base, forming two hollow threads, can be 
protruded at will, and, while their main food is 
assuredly the distilled juice of flowers, they 
will not live when deprived entirely of insect 
food. 
There are about 400 species “ot humming 
birds, but only six or seven are native to the 
United States. Among the most prominent 
species, estimated from the singular formation 
and color of their plumage, we find, first, the 
“‘long-tailed” humming bird, which is found 
only in Jamaica. The upper part of this beau- 
tiful creature is of a green color, glossed with 
gold; the wings are purple brown, and the 
tail, nearly three times longer than the body, is 
black, with a steel-blue reflection. Its length, 
including the tail, is about ten inches. An- 
other remarkable species, not especially bril- 
liant in plumage, is the ‘sword-bill,” with a 
beak nearly as long as the rest of its body. 
The Copper-bellied, Puff-leg humming birds 
have a tuft of pure white, downy feathers, 
which envelope each leg, hence itsname. The 
“‘ White-booted Racket-tail” is another brilliant, 
and is noted for its remarkable swiftness of 
flight, darting like an arrow through the air. 
Many other species are deeply interesting, and 
their names also will suggest the brilliancy ot 
their coloration. We name a few: Little 
flame-bearer, Princess Helena’s coquette, the 
snow-cap, spangled coquette, the ruby, topaz, 
blue-tailed sylph, Cayenne fairy, and many 
others with characteristic names and beauty. 
Whilst in their daring flight some of the 
wading birds cleave their way through the 
clouds and sweep a whole hemisphere, a 
little family of humming birds have only a rose 
busn for their universe. Like an elegant vase 
ornamented with lichens, a downy nest of cot- 
ton is balanced on the extremity of the most 
slender branch of the plant, whilst these 
aerial diamonds make prey of the insects which 
the flowers attract, or drink the pearls of dew 
which their petals distil. Such, Pouchet tells 
us, is the life of the sparkling-tailed humming * 
bird. In the same manner, according to 
Gould, the ‘‘emeralds of Brazil,” as they are 
commonly called, robed in changing green, 
set up their family nests upon the slender, pen- 
dent stems of the creepers, from the vicinity of 
which they never move. Rocked by the 
zephyr, the female broods tranquilly on her 
eggs, while her lord flits amorously near her; 
here are spent all the happy days of the gentle 
pair. 
