HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH 121 



a deal of white hue in their plumage, such as Heliothrix 

 auritus, which is wholly white underneath although of a 

 glittering green colour above, and the white-tailed Flori- 

 suga mellivora. There is not a great variety of humming- 

 birds in the Amazons region, the number of species being 

 far smaller in these uniform forest plains than in the 

 diversified valleys of the Andes, under the same parallels 

 of latitude. The family is divisible into two groups con- 

 trasted in form and habits, one containing species which 

 live entirely in the shade of the forest, and the other 

 comprising those w^hich prefer open sunny places. The 

 forest species (Phaethorninae) are seldom seen at flowers, 

 flowers being, in the shady places where they abide, of 

 rare occurrence ; but they search for insects on leaves, 

 threading the bushes and passing above and beneath 

 each leaf with wonderful rapidity. The other group 

 (Trochilinae) are not quite confined to cleared places, as 

 they come into the forest wherever a tree is in blossom, 

 and descend into sunny openings where flowers are to 

 be found. But it is only where the woods are less dense 

 than usual that this is the case ; in the lofty forests and 

 twilight shades of the low lands and islands they are 

 scarcely ever seen. I searched well at Caripi, expecting 

 to find the Lophornis Gouldii, which I was told had been 

 obtained in the locality. This is one of the most beautiful 

 of all humming-birds, having round its neck a frill of 

 long white feathers tipped with golden green. I was not, 

 however, so fortunate as to meet with it. Several times 

 I shot by mistake a humming-bird hawk-moth instead 

 of a bird. This moth (Macroglossa Titan) is somewhat 

 smaller than humming-birds generally are, but its manner 

 of flight, and the way it poises itself before a flower whilst 

 probing it with its proboscis are precisely like the same 

 actions of humming-birds. It was only after many days* 

 experience that I learnt to distinguish one from the other 

 when on the wing. This resemblance has attracted the 

 notice of the natives, all of whom, even educated whites, 

 firmly believe that one is transmutable 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, 



