Notices of New Books. 



8551 



all of whom, even educated whites, firmly believe that one is trans- 

 mutable into the other. They have observed the metamorphosis of 

 caterpillars into butterflies, and think it not at all more wonderful that 

 a moth should change into a humming bird. The resemblance between 

 this hawk-moth and a humming bird is certainly very curious, and 

 strikes one even when both are examined in the hand. Holding them 

 sideways, the shape of the head and position of the eyes in the moth 

 are seen to be nearly the same as in the bird, the extended proboscis 

 representing the long beak. At the tip of the moth's body there is a 

 brush of long hair scales resembling feathers, which, being expanded, 

 looks very much like a bird's tail. But of course all these points of 

 resemblance are merely superficial. The negroes and the Indians 

 tried to convince me that the two were of the same species. "Look 

 at their feathers," they said, " their eyes are the same, and so are their 

 tails." This belief is so deeply rooted that it is useless to reason with 

 them on the subject. The Macroglossa moths are found in most 

 countries, and have everywhere the same habits ; one well-known 

 species is found in England. Mr. Gould relates that he once had a 

 stormy altercation with an English gentleman, who affirmed that 

 humming birds were found in England, for he had seen one flying in 

 Devonshire, meaning thereby the moth Macroglossa stellatarum. The 

 analogy between the tw r o creatures has been brought about probably 

 by the similarity of their habits, there being no indication of the one 

 having been adapted in outward appearance with reference to the other. 

 It has been observed that humming birds are unlike other birds in 

 their mental qualities, resembling in this respect insects rather than 

 warm-blooded vertebrate animals. The want of expression in their 

 eyes, the small degree of versatility in their actions, the quickness and 

 precision of their movements, are all so many points of resemblance 

 between them and insects. In walking along the alleys of the forest 

 a Phaethornis frequently crosses one's path, often stopping suddenly 

 and remaining poised in mid-air, a few feet distant from the face of the 

 intruder. The Phaethorninae are certainly more numerous in indi- 

 viduals in the Amazons region than the Trochilinae. They build their 

 nests, which are made of fine vegetable fibres and lichens, densely 

 woven together, and thickly lined with silk cotton from the fruit of 

 the Samauma tree (Eriodendron samauma), on the inner sides of 

 the tips of palm fronds. They are long and purse-shaped. The 

 young when first hatched have very much shorter bills than their 

 parents. The only species of Trochilinae which I found at Caripi 

 were the little brassy green Polytmus viridissimus, the sapphire and 



