74 
THE HUMMING-BIRD. 
beneath the web, and enter the various labyrinths 
and cells, taking care to make good their retreat, if 
the spider sallied forth to repel them. In ascending 
some of the spiders fly-traps, great skill and care 
were required ; sometimes the bird had scarcely 
room for his little wings to spread, and the least 
mismanagement would have insnared him in the 
meshes of the web, and insured his destruction. It 
was only the outworks of the comparatively small 
spiders, of about his own size, that the Humming- 
bird durst attack, as the larger sort rushed out in 
defence of their property, when the robber would 
shoot off like a sunbeam, and could be only traced, 
like an electric spark, by the luminous glow of its 
refulgent colours. 
Table XIV. (See vol. i., p. 16 .) 
Contains the third order, consisting of birds with 
two toes before and two behind, for the purpose of 
climbing. This order is subdivided into two tribes, 
distinguished by the form and character of their 
beaks : the cuneiform, or wedge-shaped, being small, 
and not toothed or indented ; and the levirostral or 
light-beaks, which are indented more or less, and, 
though in general large, are of a lighter and thinner 
substance. 
Table XV. (See vol. i., p. 17.) 
Order 2. Tribe 1. Cuneirostral, ( Wedge-billed .) 
Of the five genera included in this tribe, the 
Cuckoos, Woodpeckers, and Wrynecks, are found 
in England. The remaining two, viz. Jacamars and 
