352 
STRANGE DWELLINGS. 
the nest, by supposing it to be made of German tinder, which 
is, in fact, a kind of boletus which has been pressed, dried, 
and steeped in a weak solution of nitre. 
The lower figure in the same illustration represents the nest 
of another Humming Bird ( Phaethornis eurynome ), belonging to 
the pretty little group which are popularly called Hermits, and 
which may be recognised by the peculiar shape of the tail, 
which is regularly graduated, the two central feathers being, 
however, much longer than the others. They are inhabitants 
of Venezuela. 
All the Hermits are remarkable for the beauty of their 
homes, and the present species is mentioned as affording a 
good example of nest-making. The nest is always long and 
funnel-shaped, and is hung either to a leaf or the delicate twig 
of a tree, according to circumstances. The materials of which 
the nest is made are rather various, consisting of vegetable 
fibres, especially those downy, cotton-like filaments which are 
furnished by so many plants, of small herbs, and spider webs. 
The last-mentioned substance is employed for the purpose of 
binding the materials together, and is used also in fastening the 
nest to the support on which it hangs. 
There is another species of this beautiful group, called the 
Ruby-throated Humming Bird ( Trochilus colubris ), which is 
generally accepted as the typical species. This lovely bird is 
plentiful in many parts of America, and is sometimes seen 
as far North as Canada. It derives its popular name from the 
feathers of the throat, which glitter as if made of burnished 
metal, and glow with alternate tints of ruby and orange. 
The general colour of the body is green, and the wings are 
purple-brown. The two sexes are coloured after the same 
manner, with the exception of the ruby gorget, which only 
belongs to the male, and which is not attained until the second 
year. There is no species more common in museums and 
ornamental cases than this, because it is as plentiful as it is 
lovely. That it should be plentiful, or indeed that any species 
of Humming Bird should be anything but scarce, is matter of 
