THE RIVOLI HUMMINGBIRD. 



{Eugenes fulgens.) 



In that wonderful and magnificent book 

 "A Monograph of the Trochilidse," the 

 family of hummingbirds, Mr. John Gould, 

 the author, writing of his experiences 

 with these mites of bird life, says : 



"How vivid is my recollection of the 

 first hummingbird which met my admir- 

 ing gaze ! With what delight did f ex- 

 amine its tiny body and feast my eyes on 

 its glittering plumage! These early im- 

 pressions, I well remember, gradually 

 increased into an earnest desire to attain 

 a more intimate acquaintance with the 

 lovely group of birds to which it per- 

 tained. During the first twenty years 

 of my acquaintance with these wonder- 

 ful works of creation my thoughts were 

 often directed to them in the day, and 

 my dreams have not unfrequently car- 

 ried me to their native forests in the dis- 

 tant country of i\merica." 



These birds have ever been an inspira- 

 tion to the poet. How beautiful are 

 these lines of Maurice Thompson, ad- 

 dressed to the hummingbird : 



Zephyr loves thy wings 

 Above all lovable things, 

 And brings them gifts with rapturous mur- 

 murings. 



Thine is the golden reach of blooming hours ; 

 Spirit of flowers ! 



Thou art a winged thought 

 Of tropical hours, 

 With all the tropics' rare bloom-splendor 

 f rought ; 



Surcharged with beauty's indefinable powers, 

 Angel of flowers! 



It seems cruel and strange that any 

 person should kill these tiny creatures 

 especially for ornamental purpose. They 

 are the gems of nature, yet one day, in 

 the year 1888, over twelve thousand skins 

 of hummingbirds were sold in London. 

 "And in one week during the same year 

 there were sold at auction, in that city, 

 four hundred thousand hummingbirds 

 and other birds from North and South 

 America, the former doubtless compris- 

 ing a very considerable percentage of the 



whole number." When we remember 

 that the hummingbird lays but two eggs, 

 the rapid extermination of some of the 

 species is evident unless this wholesale 

 slaughter is stopped. Even the tropics, 

 where bird ^ife is wonderfully abundant, 

 cannot support such wanton destruction. 



The Rivoli, or the Refulgent hum- 

 mingbird, as it is frequently called, has 

 a very limited range. It is found in the 

 "mountains of southeastern Arizona, 

 southwestern New Mexico and over the 

 table lands of Mexico," southward to 

 Nicaragua. It is one of the largest and 

 most beautiful of the hummingbirds that 

 frequent the United States. Its royal 

 appearance led Lesson, in the year 1829, 

 to name it Rivoli, in honor of M. Mas- 

 sena, the Duke of Rivoli. It is noted 

 "for the beauty of its coloring and the 

 bold style of its markings." 



Mr. Salvin, writing of the pugnacious 

 character of this species, says : "Many 

 a time have I thought to secure a fine 

 male, which I had, perhaps, been follow- 

 ing from tree to tree, and had at last 

 seen quietly perched on a leafless twig, 

 when my deadly intention has been an- 

 ticipated by one less so in fact, but to 

 all appearances equally so in will. An- 

 other hummingbird rushes in, knocks the 

 one I covet off his perch, and the two go 

 fighting and screaming away at a pace 

 hardly to be followed by the eye. An- 

 other time this flying fight was sustained 

 in midair, the belligerents mounting 

 higher and higher, until the one worsted 

 in battle darts away seeking shelter, fol- 

 lowed by the victor, who never relin- 

 quishes the pursuit till the vanquished, 

 by doubling and hiding, succeeds in mak- 

 ing his escape." Not only do they resent 

 the presence of their own kind, but also 

 of other hummingbirds. 



Mr. H. W. Henshaw, who was the 

 first scientist to discover that the Rivoli 

 was a member of the bird fauna of the 

 United States, thus describes its nest: 

 "It is composed of mosses nicely woven 



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