173 
v. 
LINDEN'S HELMET-CREST \ OR BLACK WARRIOR. 
Botanical Garden of Jamaica; and on the various trees, now growing to a luxuriant size, met 
with many curious birds, among which this specimen was perched upon the bread-fruit or 
cabbage-tree. He poured forth his slight querulous note among a most numerous assemblage 
of the indigenous and exotic plants and trees of the island, on a spot once the pride of 
Jamaica, but now a desolate wilderness.” This beautiful Humming-bird will be described 
at length in a future page. 
To return to Salle’s Hermit. The upper parts of its body are green -bronze, excepting the 
upper tail-coverts, which are rusty-red. The wings are purple-brown. The central tail- 
feathers are bronze, largely tipped with white, and the remaining feathers are white, with the 
exception of a broad black band, drawn obliquely across them near the base. Above and 
below the eye there is a white streak, and the color of the under parts of the body is 
sober gray. 
A bather large species of Humming-bird is the Jacobin Hummino-bird ( Florisuga 
mellivora <). It is remarkable for the manner in which the rounded tail-feathers are arranged, 
and the very long upper tail-coverts. This bird represents a beautifully-colored species, glow- 
ing with boldly contrasted hues of white, blue, green, and black. 
It inhabits Cayenne, Guiana, Trinidad, and seems to have rather an extensive range, being 
found from Cayenne to Peru. It is a very curious species, inhabiting broad and fluviatile 
districts not more than two or three hundred feet from the level of the sea. The color is 
very variable, but is generally a light blue upon the head and throat, with a large white 
crescentic patch passing over the back of the neck. The back, the very long upper tail- 
coverts, and a line extending to each side of the neck, are golden -green, and the wings are 
purple-black, edged on the shoulders with golden-green. The tail is tipped with a narrow 
band of black. Some individuals have a^ green mark upon the blue of the head, and others are 
curiously mottled with white and brown. 
Thebe are several species of this genus, among which may be mentioned the Great 
Jacobin (Florisuga flab ellif era), a truly beautiful bird, and much larger than the preceding 
species. It is found. in Tobago, in the Orinocos, and other neighboring localities. It lives 
mostly in low marshy situations, chiefly upon plantations abroad, and generally feeds while 
on the wing. Another curious species is the Pied Jacobin (Mellisuga atra ), a bird which is 
much blacker than either of the preceding. It inhabits the extreme parts of Brazil, from Per- 
nambuco on the north to Rio Janeiro on the south. Like the preceding species, it is very 
variable in coloring. 
The Helmet-crests are very curious birds, and are at once known by the singular pointed 
plume which crowns the top of the head, and the long beard-like appendage to the chin. They 
all live at a very considerable elevation, inhabiting localities of such extreme inclemency that 
few persons would think of looking for a Humming-bird in such frozen regions. There are 
several species of Helmet-crest, and their habits are well described by Mr. Linden, the dis- 
coverer of Linden’s Helmet-crest, in a letter written to Mr. Gould, and published in his 
monograph of the Humming-birds. 
‘ ‘ I met with this species for the first time in August, 1842, while ascending the Sierra 
Nevada de Merida, the crests of which are the most elevated of the eastern part of the Cordil- 
leras of Columbia. It inhabits the regions immediately beneath the line of perpetual con- 
gelation, at an elevation of from 12,000 to 13,000 feet above the level of the sea. Messrs. 
Funck and Schlim found it equally abundant in the Paramos, near the Sierra Nevada, at the 
comparatively low elevation of 9,000 feet. It appears to be confined to the regions between 
the eighth and ninth degrees of north latitude. 
It occasionally feeds upon the thinly-scattered shrubs of this icy region, such as the hype- 
ricum, myrtus, daphne, arborescent espeletias, and towards the lower limit on be j arias, but 
most frequently upon the projecting ledges of rocks near to the snow. Its flight is swift, but 
very short ; when it leaves the spot upon which it has been perched, it launches itself obliquely 
