Sugar-birds. 
(80) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Sugar-birds. 
By MISS DYDDGU HAMILTON. 
Three centuries ago, it was universally believed 
that somewhere in the far interior of northern 
South America lay the golden land called El 
Dorado, with its fairy city of Manoa, all gleam¬ 
ing with gold and precious stones. 
Sir Walter Raleigh and many travellers and 
adventurers after him started in search of this 
new country of fabulous wealth and monstrous 
inhabitants; nor was it until the beginning of 
the 18th century that Humboldt finally dispelled 
the mythical beliefs concerning this rich country 
far away in the direction of the setting sun. 
Yet even now a veil of enchantment hangs 
over the immense stretch of impenetrable forest, 
and over the grand and fantastically-shaped 
mountains of the region where Sugar-birds are 
found, and our knowledge of a great part of 
their native land is still shadowy and indefinite. 
The Home of the Sugar-birds. 
It is a region rich in bird and insect and vege¬ 
table life, difficult of access and deadly in climate, 
a region of abundant rains and rapid rivers. It 
is but thinly peopled by small tribes of Indians, 
who are invincibly disinclined to undertake long 
and arduous journeys of exploration, and there¬ 
fore this most interesting country still remains 
the least known part of the tropics. 
The family of Coerebidce, or American 
Creepers, to which the Sugar-birds belong, i:s 
divided into eleven genera, containing 75 species. 
Their range extends from South Mexico on the 
north to the Gulf of Guayaquil on the western 
coast of South America; and to the southern 
limits of the wood region of South-East Brazil, 
and the Amazonian valley, on the eastern side of 
the Andes. Fifteen species are peculiar to cer¬ 
tain of the Antilles, several of them to one island 
only, and Coereba flaveola, the Banana Quit, the 
type of the typical genus of the family, is found 
nowhere but in Jamaica. 
Family Features. 
All the members of the family are called Honey- 
creepers, or Quit-quits, and are small, brilliantly- 
coloured birds nearly allied to the Tanagers. The 
male is always distinguishable by his plumage 
frorn the. female, who, after the usual manner 
of bird-kind, is less showily dressed than her 
mate. The colours are mostly brilliant yellow, 
blue or green, combined with lustrous black in 
the wings and tail. 
In their wild state these birds feed upon small 
insects, ripe fruit, and honey. They also fre¬ 
quent curing-houses where sugar is kept, being 
attracted thither by the abounding swarms of 
flies and ants. 
Sugar-birds build their domed nests in low 
trees or bushes, where wasps have constructed 
their paper habitations, and it is said that the 
birds’ object is to secure a position rendered 
safe from intruders by the presence of these for¬ 
midable insects, with whom a “ league of amity ” 
is established. But considering the greedy way 
in which the little Sugar-birds devour wasp 
grub, I have my doubts as to the league of amity ! 
The Purple Sugar-bird. 
A good idea of the exceeding grace and beauty 
of the Sugar-birds can be obtained by a visit to 
the Insect House of the Zoological Gardens. 
There, in a large glass case about 6 feet long, 
can be seen three different species, representing 
two sub-families of these lovely little birds. 
The most interesting, perhaps, is the Purple 
Sugar-bird, Coereba ccerulea , from Caraccas; 
partly because it has been less often seen in Eng¬ 
land than the Yellow-winged or than the Blue 
Sugar-birds, but especially because of the Purple 
bird 'the Zoological Society has a pair, showing 
the great difference in plumage between the male 
and female. This difference, however, does not 
always exist. The cock bird is now a beautiful 
purple-blue, much the same glorious colour as 
that of the large bell gentian ( Gentiana acaulis) 
so common in the Alps; but when I first saw the 
birds early in March the cock was all spotted 
and speckled with green on back and breast, so 
that at that time I thought how much more 
appropriate was the French name for the bird, 
“ Grimpereau vert tachete ” (Spotted Green 
Creeper), than our English name of Purple-sugar 
bird. But to anyone seeing the bird as he now 
is in full dress the French name would appear 
quite meaningless. 
In the adult male of Coereba ccerulea the beak 
is long, curved, and polished black. The eyes are 
black. The legs and feet are bright yellowish 
green, with black nails. Above and below the 
feathers are a beautiful purple-blue; the lores, 
throat, wings and tail are a velvety black. The 
whole length of the bird is about three-and-a-half 
inches. 
The adult female is dark-green above; lores 
rufous; below she is pale yellowish with dark 
green striations. Her throat is rufous, and her 
green legs and feet exactly match her plumage. 
If this bird be compared with the lovely little 
spotted Emerald Tanager, Calliste guttata, 
which is in a cage in the Insect House, the very 
strong likeness between the Sugar-birds and 
Tanagers will be readily recognised. 
The Yellow-winged Sugar-bird. 
Even more exquisitely beautiful is Coereba 
cyanea, the Sal or Yellow-winged Sugar-bird, 
of which the Zoological Society has one male 
specimen. Its eyes and beak are shining black; 
its legs and feet coral-red, with black nails. The 
