HUMMING-BIEDS. 



135 



expanding the snow- white tail like an inverted parachute, 

 slowly descend in front of her, turning round gradually 

 to show off both back and front. The expanded white 

 tail covered more space than all the rest of the bird, and 

 was evidently the grand feature of the performance. 

 Whilst one was descending the other would shoot up 

 and come slowly down expanded.^ 



Food. — The food of humming-birds has been a matter 

 of much controversy. All the early writers down to 

 Buffon believed that they lived solely on the nectar of 

 flowers ; but since that time every close observer of 

 their habits maintains that they feed largely, and in 

 some cases wholly, on insects. Azara observed them on 

 the La Plata in winter taking insects out of the webs 

 of spiders at a time and place where there were no 

 flowers. Bullock, in Mexico, declares that he saw them 

 catch small butterflies, and that he found many kinds of 

 insects in their stomachs. Waterton made a similar 

 statement. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of speci- 

 mens have since been dissected by collecting naturalists, 

 and in almost every instance their stomachs have been 

 found full of insects, sometimes, but not generally, 

 mixed with a proportion of honey. Many of them in 

 fact may be seen catching gnats and other small insects 

 - just like fly-catchers, sitting on a dead twig over water, 

 darting off for a time in the air, and then returning to 

 the twig. Others come out just at dusk, and remain on 

 the wing, now stationary, now darting about with the 

 greatest rapidity, imitating in a limited space the evolu- 

 tions of the goatsuckers, and evidently for the same end 

 and purpose. Mr. Gosse also remarks : — All the hum- 



^ Tlic Naturalist in Nicaragua, p. 112. 



