378 



MUSEUM OF ANIMATED NATURE. 



fHUMMING-BlRDS. 



Mr. Darwin, in his admirable ' Journal,' states, that 

 while at Bahia, he started early one morning and 

 walked to the top of the Gavia, or Topsail Mountain. 

 " The air was delightfully cool and fragrant, and 

 the drops of dew still glittered on the leaves of the 

 large liliaceous plants which shaded the streamlets 

 of clear water. Sitting down on a rock of granite, 

 it was delightful to watch the various insects and 

 birds as they flew past. The humming-birds seem 

 particularly fond of such shady retired spots ; when- 

 ever I saw these little creatures buzzing round a 

 flower with their wings vibrating so rapidly as to 

 be scarcely visible, I was reminded of the sphinx- 

 moths ; their movements and habits are indeed in 

 many respects very similar." (p. 36.) Bullock and 

 Wilson both notice the surprising rapidity of the 

 vibrations of their wings ; the former, speaking of 

 specimens caged, says, that in a space barely suffi- 

 cient for them to move their wings, they will keep 

 their bodies in the air apparently motionless for hours 

 together. There are, however, exceptions to this 

 rule ; Mr. Darwin, describing the Trochilus gigas, 

 which, as he observed, had arrived in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Valparaiso in numbers a little before 

 the vernal equinox, adds: — "It comes from the 

 parched deserts of the north, probably for the 

 purpose of breeding in Chile. When on the wing 

 the appearance of this bird is singular. Like the 

 others of the genus, it moves from place to place 

 with a rapidity which may be compared to a syrphus 

 amongst dipterous insects and a sphinx amongst 

 the moths; but whilst hovering over a flower, it 

 flaps its wings with a slow and very powerful move- 

 ment, totally different from that vibratory one, 

 common to most of the species, which produces 

 the humming noise. I never saw any other bird 

 the force of whose wings appeared so powerful in 

 proportion to the weight of its body. W'hen hover- 

 ing by a flower, its tail is constantly expanded and 

 shut like a fan, the body being kept in a nearly 

 vertical position. This action appears to steady 

 and support the bird between the slow movements 

 of its wings. Although flying from flower to flower 

 in search of food, its stomach generally contained 

 abundant remains of insects, which, I suspect, are 

 much more the object of its search than honey is. 

 The note of this species, like that of nearly the 

 whole family, is extremely shrill." These brilliant 

 creatures are an intrepid daring race, and extremely 

 pugnacious, and cannot endure the approach of one 

 even of their own species, still less of any other 

 bird near their breeding-places. Of one minute 

 but beautiful species, the Mexican Star, Mr. Bullock 

 says : — "When attending their young they attack 

 any bird indiscriminately that approaches the nest. 

 Their motions, while under the influence of anger 

 or fear, are very violent, and their flight rapid as 

 an arrow ; the eye cannot follow them, but the 

 shrill piercing shriek which they utter on the wing 

 may be heard when the bird is invisible. They 

 attack the eyes of the larger birds, and their sharp 

 needle-like bill is a truly formidable weapon in this 

 kind of warfare. Nothing can exceed their fierce- 

 ness when one of their own species invades their 

 territory during the breeding-season ; under the 

 influence of jealousy they become perfect furies, 

 their throats swell, their crests, tails, and wings 

 expand, they fight in the air, uttering a shrill noise, 

 till one falls exhausted to the ground." 



With respect to the voice of the humming-birds, 

 we have reason to believe that it consists only of a 

 shrill cry ; such is Lesson's assertion, who remarks, 

 that it is uttered chiefly on the wing, or under the 

 excitement of anger, &c, and that they are most 

 frequently mute ; others, however, assert that they 

 utter a song, which statement, if at all correct, is 

 only applicable to a few species. Bullock speaks of 

 a minute species in Jamaica, to which he listened, 

 in the Botanical Garden of that island, as it poured 

 forth its "slight querulous note." 



Pere Labat, in 1547, and Rochfort, in 1658, de- 

 scribe spiders in the "Bermudez" and Antilles 

 which make webs strong enough to entangle small 

 birds. Madame Merian, in her work, figures a 

 gigantic round spider, which makes no net, of the 

 genus Mygale, in the act of devouring a humming- 

 bird, thus deceiving later naturalists, and even 

 Linneeus, who termed the species Aranea avicularia. 

 Mr. Macleay informs us that there are in the West- 

 Indies huge spiders belonging to the genus Nephila 

 (as N. clavipes, or Epeira clavipes of Latreille), com- 

 mon, like our own Epeira diaderaa, in gardens, 

 which make a mathematical net strong enough in- 

 deed to embarrass small birds, but which, he states, 

 do not attempt to catch birds, and never molest 

 them : and in a note he adds, when M. Langsdorff 

 asked the people of Brazil if the Caranquexeira, 

 for such is the spider's name in that country, fed 

 upon humming-birds, they answered him, 'with 

 bursts of laughter, that it only gratified its maw 

 with large flies, ants, bees, wasps, beetles, &c, an 

 answer which the traveller found the truth of by 

 personal experience. ('Trans. Zool. Soc.,' vol. i.) 



It would appear, from Mr. Bullock's statement, 

 that humming-birds often avail themselves of the 

 insects caught in spiders' webs, not, however, with- 

 out the spiders endeavouring not to devour, but 

 drive them away. " The house," he writes, " I re- 

 sided in at Xalapjpa for several weeks on my return 

 to Vera Cruz, was only one story high, inclosing, 

 like most of the Spanish houses, a small garden in 

 the centre, the roof projecting six or seven feet 

 from the walls, covering a walk all round, and 

 leaving a small space only between the tiles and 

 trees which grew in the centre. From the edge of 

 these tiles to the branches of the trees in the garden 

 the spiders had spread then innumerable webs, so 

 closely and compactly that they resembled a net: I 

 have frequently watched with much amusement 

 the cautious peregrination of the humming-bird, 

 who advancing beneath the web, entered the 

 various labyrinths and cells in search of entangled 

 'flies; but as the larger spiders did not tamely sur- 

 render their booty, the invader was often compelled 

 to retreat. Being within a few feet, I could observe 

 all their evolutions with great precision : the active 

 little bird generally passed once or twice round the 

 court, as if to reconnoitre his ground, and com- 

 menced his attack by going carefully under the nets 

 of the wily insect, and seizing by surprise the 

 smallest entangled flies or those that were most 

 feeble. In ascending the angular traps of the spider, 

 great care and skill were required; sometimes 

 he had scarcely room for his little wings to per- 

 form their office, and the least deviation would have 

 entangled him in the complex machinery of the 

 web, and involved him in ruin. It was only the 

 works of the smaller spiders that he durst attack, 

 as the largest rose in defence of their citadels, when 

 the besieger would shoot off like a sunbeam, and 

 could only be traced by the luminous glow of his 

 refulgent colours. The bird generally spent about 

 ten minutes in this predatory excursion, and then 

 alighted on a branch cJ an avocata to rest and re- 

 fresh himself, placing his crimson star-like breast to 

 the sun, which then presented all the glowing fire 

 of the ruby, and surpassed in lustre the diadem of 

 monarchs." The species referred to is the Mexican 

 Star. In sleeping, according to the same authority, 

 these beautiful birds frequently suspend themselves 

 by the feet, with the head downwards. 



The nests of the humming-birds are most beauti- 

 ful compact structures, with exquisite finish and 

 nicety of arrangement. We have seen one com- 

 posed of the finest silky down, or cotton, of a deli- 

 cate straw-yellow, soft, light, and compact, attached 

 to the end of a twig, and concealed by leaves. In 

 some cases the outside is formed of fine moss, lichens, 

 &c, investing a compact bed of the down of plants, 

 cotton, and even spiders' webs. 



Figs. 1664 and 1665 are the nests of Humming- 

 birds (from Lesson). These are covered on the out- 

 side with bits of lichen, leaves, moss, &c. One con- 

 tains two white eggs (the usual number and colour 

 of the eggs of these birds), of an elongated form. 

 Fig. 1666 represents the Nest of the Brazilian Ame- 

 thyst Humming-bird (Ornismya Amethisto'ides, 

 Less.) : a, the egg. 



In the ' Zoological Journal,' vol. v., is an interest- 

 ing account of the nidification of a species of hum- 

 ming-bird, by the late Captain Lyon, R.N.: the 

 nest, it appears, was not completed till after the 

 young were hatched. (Figs. 1667 and 1668.) 

 Writing from Gongo Soco, Brazil, March 17th, 1829, 

 he says :— " I am too closely confined here, and too 

 constantly occupied, to attend much to natural 

 history or anything except the mines, but it may 

 interest you to have an account of some young 

 humming-birds whose hatching and education I 

 studiously attended, as the nest'was made in a little 

 orange-bush by the side of a frequented walk in my 

 garden. It was composed of the silky down of a 

 plant, and covered with small flat pieces of yellow 

 lichen. The first egg was laid January 26th, the 

 second on the 28th, and two little creatures like 

 bees made their appearance on the morning of 

 February 14th. As the young increased in size, the 

 mother built her nest higher, so that, from having 

 at first the form of Fig. 1667, it became ultimately 

 like Fig. 1668. 



" The old bird sat very close during a continuance 

 of the heavy rain for several days and nights. The 

 young remained blind until February 28th, and flew 

 on the morning of March 7th, without previous 

 practice, as strong and swiftly as the mother, taking 

 their first dart from the nest to a tree about twenty 

 yards distant." 



It must not be supposed that this plan of adding 

 to the structure after the hatching of the eggs is 

 the ordinary plan. In this instance perhaps the 

 bird had been driven from a nest previously made, 

 aud had not time to finish the new one before de- 

 positing the eggs, and was thus subsequently com- 

 pelled to add to it. 



In some districts, undoubtedly, the humming- 

 birds are migratory, such as the northern or ruby- 



throated species. Mr. Darwin ('Journal'), after 



i adverting to two species common in Chile, and a 



1 third found on the Cordilleras at an elevation of 



about ten thousand feet, proceeds to observe : " In 



Central Chile these birds are migratory ; they make 



their appearance there in autumn, and in the latter 



; end of the month corresponding to our October 



they are very common. In the "spring they begin 



to disappear, and on the 12th of what would cor- 



j respond to our March I saw only one individual, 



I As this species migrates to the southward, it is 



I replaced by the arrival of a larger kind (the Tro- 



! chilus gigas). I do not believe the small kinds 



j breed in Chile, for during the summer their nests 



i were common to the south of that country. The 



: migration of the humming-birds, both on the east 



and west coast of North America, corresponds to 



what takes place in this southern continent. In 



, both cases they move towards the tropic during the 



colder parts of the year, and retreat before the 



returning heat. Some, however, remain during the 



whole year in Tierra del Fuego ; and in Northern 



California (which in the northern hemisphere has 



the same relative position which Tierra del Fuego 



has in the southern) some, according to Captain 



Beechey, likewise remain." (p. 331.) 



1669, 1670. — The Ruby-throated Humming-Bird 



(Trochilus Coluhis). Audubon describes and 

 figures four species of humming-birds as North Ame- 

 rican, viz. the T. Colubris, the T. Anna, the Larn- 

 prornis Mango, and the Calliphlox ruta (T. rufus, 

 Gmel.) : but it must be observed that upwards of 

 two hundred species are known ; in the cabinet of 

 Mr. G. Loddiges, of Hackney, there are one hundred, 

 and ninety-six species, if not more — a gorgeous dis- 

 play of dazzling brilliants. 



The Ruby-throated Humming-bird usually arrives 

 in Pennsylvania about the 25th of April, but. in 

 Louisiana it has been observed as early as the 10th 

 of March. It has all the manners of its race ; it 

 hovers around the blossoms of trees and shrubs, 

 giving preference to tubular flowers, not so much 

 for the sake perhaps of the honey, as of the insects 

 which crowd the nectary to feed upon its sweets. 

 That insects, and those too of the coleopterous 

 order, constitute a great portion of the food of this 

 species, has been proved by dissection. "I have 

 seen," says Wilson, "the humming-bird, for half 

 an hour at a time, darting at those little groups of 

 insects that dance in the air on a fine summer even- 

 ing, retiring to an adjoining twig to rest, and re- 

 newing the attack with a dexterity that sets all our 

 other flycatchers at defiance. I have opened from 

 time to time great numbers of these birds, have ex- 

 amined the contents of the stomach with suitable 

 glasses, and in three cases out of four have found 

 these to consist of broken fragments of insects. In 

 many subjects, entire insects of the coleopterous 

 order, but very small, were found unbroken." 



The general colour of the upper parts of this spe- 

 cies, including the two central tail-feathers, is green 

 with gold reflexions. The whole of the throat and 

 fore part of the neck is of a deep fiery ruby tint in 

 some lights ; in others, of a burnished crimson or 

 orange glow ; in others, velvet-black : under parts 

 greyish white mixed with green. Quills and tail 

 purplish brown. The female is destitute of the ruby 

 throat, which is white, as are the under parts ge- 

 nerally. Length three inches and a half. Fig. 1670 

 represents the Female and Nest. 



1671. — The Double-crested Humming-Bird 



(Ornismya Chrysoloplia, Lesson). Trochilus bi- 

 lophus, Temm. This is a most gorgeous species- 

 Two flattened fan-shaped crests, each composed of 

 six small feathers, part from the forehead on a level 

 with the eyes. The brilliancy of these crests sur- 

 passes description, glistening as they do with the 

 hues of polished gold and red copper, changing 

 into the gemmy tints of the ruby and emerald, now 

 fire-coloured, anon the purest green, and presently 

 the brightest yellow. The scaly feathers of the 

 forehead between the two crests sparkle with 

 metallic uniform green, changing to steel or 

 sapphire blue. A camail of dark changeable 

 violet extends from the throat behind the eyes, and 

 descends along the sides of the neck to terminate 

 in a point of long feathers before the breast. This 

 uncertain violet, graduating into a non-metallic blue, 

 with its velvety very dark tint, is sharply defined 

 on the milk-white of the breast, which extends to 

 the lower part of the neck, so as to form a rather 

 large white collar. The lower part of the belly is 

 white; but the. middle of the abdomen and the 

 flanks are, like the back, golden green, with which 

 is mingled a little of the greyish colour of the base 

 of the feathers. Back and sides of the head behind, 

 back, and feathers of the rump, metallic golden 

 green. Quills brown: tail long, narrow, and much 

 graduated. Length four inches and a half, includ- 

 ing the long tail and bilhj 



