HUMMING-BIRDS. 
103 
placed outwards, giving a jagged or prickly appearance 
to the outside, while the interior is warmly lined with 
the down. Dr Latham says, that the nest of the black 
humming-bird is also made of cotton, entwined round 
the thorns and twigs of the citron-tree, and is of so 
firm a texture as not to be easily broken by the winds ; 
and a nest of the topaz-crested humming-bird, now 
before me, about seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, 
is composed of the same materials, stuck over with 
lichens on the outside, and firmly fixed in the hanging 
cleft of some strong creeper by threads of a cottony 
substance, and very slender roots or tendrils, the whole 
lower part as if cemented by a thin coat of glue. It 
is probable that the greater number build their nests 
nearly in a similar manner, and in proportion to their 
size, though there are also some variation in the dif- 
ferent forms, which a little more attention may allow 
us to introduce in our reasoning upon their affinities. 
Thus, in some valuable remarks accompanying a col- 
lection of birds from Tobago, we have, regarding the 
T.lrirsutus, (provinciallynamcd doctorhuinming-bird,) 
— “ It builds its nest suspended like that of the yellow- 
tail, (Cassinis cristatus,) with the entrance somewhat 
downwards, and lays only one egg.” The nest received 
is of a lengthened form, composed of dried grass and 
slender roots, moss, &e., and does not show the com- 
pact manufacture of those previously described. It is 
suspended to the leaf of some reed- like plant, to which 
it is cemented chiefly by the threads of spiders or 
caterpillars. I trust erelong to procure some interest- 
