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TROPICAL NATURE 
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humming-birds may be easily distinguished, by the varied 
combinations of the characters here briefly enumerated, to- 
gether with many others of less importance. One group of 
birds will have a short round tail, with crest and long neck- 
frill; another group a deeply-forked broad tail, combined 
with glowing crown and gorget; one is both bearded and 
crested; others have a luminous back and pendent neck- 
plumes ; and in each of these groups the species will vary in 
combinations of colour, in size, and in the proportions of the 
ornamental plumes, so as to produce an unmistakable dis- 
tinctness ; while, without any new developments of form or 
structure, there is room for the discovery of hundreds more of 
distinct kinds of humming-birds. 
Descriptive Names 
The name we usually give to the birds of this familyis derived 
from the sound of their rapidly-moving wings, a sound which 
is produced by the largest as well as by the smallest member of 
the group. The Creoles of Guiana similarly call them Bourdons 
or hummers. The French term, Oiseau-mouche, refers to their 
small size ; while Colibri is a native name which has come 
down from the Carib inhabitants of the West Indies. The 
Spaniards and Portuguese call them by more poetical names, 
such as flower-peckers, flower-kissers, myrtle-suckers — while 
the Mexican and Peruvian names show a still higher apprecia- 
tion of their beauties, their meaning being “rays of the sun,” 
“ tresses of the day-star,” and other such appellations. Even 
our modern naturalists, while studying the structure and 
noting the peculiarities of these living gems, have been 
so struck by their inimitable beauties that they have en- 
deavoured to invent appropriate English names for the more 
beautiful and remarkable genera. Hence we find in common 
use such terms as sun-gems, sun-stars, hill-stars, wood-stars, 
sun-angels, star-throats, comets, coquettes, flame-bearers, 
sylphs, and fairies ; together with many others derived from 
the character of the tail or the crests. 
The Motions and Habits of Humming-Birds 
Let us now consider briefly the peculiarities of flight, the 
motions, the food, the nests, and general habits of the humming- 
