102 
VEETEBRATA. 
THP SOTJI-MANGA AND ITS NEST. 
in search of tlie minute insects always found in sucli situations ; they will also pick small spiders 
from their webs, and insects from the crevices of the walls and trees. They are said also to sub- 
sist partly on the juices of flowers, whence the name of Sucriers or Sugar-Birds, applied to them 
by French authors. Some of them also feed upon fruits. Like the humming-birds, they are ex- 
ceedingly quarrelsome, fighting violently for the possession of a flower, the vanquished bird re- 
treating from the spot with shrill cries, while the conqueror takes up his position upon a flower 
or stem, and swinging his little body to and fro, pours out a note of triumph. The song is said 
to be very agreeable. 
An interesting species is the Soui-Manga, S. cynniris, its metallic colors shining with the mos 
intense brilliancy. It makes its nest with great art on trees and shrubs. The nests of two otln. 
species, Nectarinia Lotenia and N. Asiatica, as described by Mr. Layard, are elegant domed struc 
tures, generally suspended from the extremity of a twig of some low bush, and artfully covered 
with cobweb. In this, Mr. Layard says, he has often seen the spider still weaving her toils, thus 
rendering the deception still more efi"ective ; and it would seem that the birds were aware of it, 
and left their helper undisturbed. The entrance to the nest is usually turned toward the inte- 
rior of the bush, and is sheltered from the sun and rain by a sort of portico, which often projects 
more than an inch from the walls. In this snug tenement the little sun-birds lay from two to 
four eggs, which are of a whitish color, closely covered with minute, dusky spots, so that their 
general color appears gray. 
THE TROCHILID^ OR HUMMINa-BIEDS. 
These birds, peculiar to the American continent, have excited the liveliest interest in every 
observer. There are more than three hundred distinct species, varying considerably in size : the 
Buhy-throated Humming-Bird, which is most commonly know^n in the United States, is three inches 
and a half long, and is about the medium size ; the Giant Summing-Bird of Brazil is of the di- 
mensions of the purple martin or chimney-swallow ; several species are not larger than beetles. 
They vary also in form, some being robust and some slender ; some having bills of enormous 
