tongue into the bottoms of flowers, from which it 

 fucks the honey-juice. They are faid to be of a very 

 pugnacious nature, and have frequently the moft vio- 

 lent contefts when they happen to difpute the poffeflion 

 of the fame flower. They often fly into houfes, and 

 after taking a few circuits round the room in the man- 

 ner of European infects, again dart into the open air. 

 They build amongft the thick foliage of trees, on fome 

 forked twig. The neft is about an inch in diameter in 

 the infide, and half an inch deep : it is lined with the 

 down of plants, and coated on the outfide with mofs 

 and lichens. They lay only two eggs, which are per- 

 fectly white, and about the fize of peas. During the 

 time of incubation, and when the eggs are hatched, 

 they fhew an aftonilhing degree of courage, and in de- 

 fence of their young have frequently been known to 

 attack and put to flight even the larger birds which 

 have happened to approach near the fome tree. They 

 have no other note than a kind of Iharp fqueak, which 

 they emit now and then ; the noife which they make 

 during flight is caufed by their wings, and is not un- 

 like that of a fly, or bee. 



