THE SAW BILL HUMMING BIRD . 
141 
As is the case with the generality of humming birds’ nests, 
cobwebs are employed for the purpose of fastening the structure 
to the object to which it hangs. The materials of which the 
nest is made, are chiefly moss, down, and feathers, the feathers 
being profusely stuck on the outside. 
There is a very remarkable nest made by one of these birds, 
called the Sawbill Humming Bird ( Grypus ncevius ), because 
the slender bill is notched in a saw-like fashion on the edges of 
both mandibles. These serrations do not reach along the whole 
bill but only to a short distance from the tip. 
The nest of the Sawbill is made of fine vegetable fibres, 
woven together so as to look like an open, network purse, the 
outer walls being so loosely made as to permit the eggs and 
lining to be visible. Leaves, mosses and lichens are also woven 
ir.to the nest, and are packed rather tightly under the eggs. 
The edge, however, is always left loose. The nest is suspended 
at the end of some leaf, usually that of the palm. 
Mr. Gould mentions that the bird is found in the depths of 
virgin forests, and is most plentiful about thirty miles from 
Nova Fribergo, in the months of July, August, September, and 
part of October. It is generally seen darting round the 
orchidaceous plants which flower so richly in that fertile 
climate, and is a rather noisy bird, uttering loud and piercing 
cries, and making a great whirring sound with its wings as it 
dashes through the air. It is very strong and energetic on the 
wing, and is seldom seen to alight. That the Sawbill feeds on 
insects has been satisfactorily proved, by the presence of small 
beetles in the throat of newly killed birds ; and to judge by 
its actions, the hovering flight and frequent stoop like that 
of the falcon, the bird feeds also on flies and other winged in- 
sects. 
: 
Although it is necessarily impossible to describe or even 
enumerate one tithe of the interesting nests made by humming 
birds, I must cursorily mention one or two more of the most 
curious examples. One of these birds is the Brazilian Wood 
