64 
POPULAR HISTORY OF BIRDS. 
twitterings the gayest of the gay. Some were emerald-green, 
some vivid violet, and others yellow, with a crimson wing."'^ 
Some of the species are said to sing very sweetly. 
The birds of the genus Cinnyris were at one time thought 
to be particularly fond of sugar, and the various honeyed 
fluids found in the cups and tubes of flowers. Dr. Andrew 
Smith"^, who long observed the species found in South 
Africa, remarks that insects seem to form their chief food. 
He examined the stomachs of several species, and found 
that the bulk of the contents of their stomachs consisted 
of insects, sometimes of considerable size ; at the same time, 
there was more or less of a saccharine juice along with the 
animal matters. He well remarks that the birds could not 
easily avoid swallowing a certain portion of honey, from 
their mode of inserting their bills into flowers ; but from 
the size and numbers of the insects, unless their consump- 
tion was an object of importance, he judged that if disagree- 
able to the bird, they could easily avoid swallowing them. 
Had America been discovered before Dutch enterprise 
brought the productions of the Eastern Islands to Europe, 
Humming birds (TROCHiLiDiE) would have been named 
"Birds of Paradise,^^ and the curiously- plumed creatures, 
* Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa, pi. Ivii. [Cinnyris Ferroxi.) 
