176 
HUMMING BIRD. 
“ formerly, say thirty or forty years ago, they were numerous, 
and often staid all winter with us, or the year through, feeding 
on the berries of ivy, smilax, grapes, persimmons, and other 
berries. The ivy ( Hedera helix ) they were particularly fond 
of, though a native of Europe. We have an ancient plant 
adhering to the wall of the house, covering many yards of 
surface ; this vine is very fruitful, and here many would feed 
and lodge during the winter, and, in very severe cold weather, 
sit on the top of the chimney to warm themselves.” He also 
adds, “ I have observed that the Mocking Bird ejects from 
his stomach through his mouth the hard kernels of berries, 
such as smilax, grapes, &c. retaining the pulpy part.” * 
HUMMING BIRD.f — TROCHILUS COLUBRIS. 
Plate X. Figs. 3. and 4. 
Troehilus colubris, Linn. Syst. i. p. 191, No. 12. — L’Oiseau mouche a gorge rouge i 
de la Caroline, JBriss. Orn. iii. p. 716, No. 13, t. 36, fig. 6 Le Rubis, Buff. 
Ois. vi. p. 13. — Humming Bird, Catesb. Car. i. 65. — Red-tbroated Humming 
Bird, Edw. i. 38, male and female Lath. Syn. ii. 769, No. 35. — Peale's !j 
Museum, No. 2520. 
TROCHIL US COL UBRIS. — Linnieus. 
Trocbilus colubris, Bonap. Synop. p. 98. — Tbe Ruby-tliroated Humming Bird, Aud. 
pi. xlvii. Orn. Biog. i. 248 Trocbilus colubris, Northern Humming Bird, , 
North. Zool. ii. p. 323. 
Nature, in every department of her work, seems to delight 
in variety ; and the present subject of our history is almost as 
singular for its minuteness, beauty, want of song, and manner 
of feeding, as the preceding is for unrivalled excellence of 
V 
j 
* Letter from Mr Bartram to the author. 
f The “ Fairy Humming Birds,” “ The Jewels of Ornithology,” 
” Least of the winged vagrants of the sky,” 
though amply dispersed over the southern continent of the New World, from 
their delicate and slender structure, being unable to bear the severities of a 
hardier climate, are, with two exceptions, withdrawn from its northern parts ; 
