An Amateur’s Experience in Importing Humming Birds 123


of the town there are small public gardens which I thought were

quite cleverly laid out. They are planted with beautiful trees of

different sorts, some of the acacia family, others resembling huge

laburnums; big bushes of oleanders (poisonous to birds, by the way)

and bougainvillia (really a creeper) throw rods 15 to 20 feet long,

covered with the gayest flowers in bright crimson, purple, and even

orange. There are hibiscus, with large single flowers in shades of

pink, red, and yellow, and tropical lilies with scented white and rose

flow T ers—these appeared to be crinums—and palms, often in wonder¬

ful variety, tower up into the sky. Some of these must be quite a

hundred years old. The trees are mostly tall and branching,

bearing such fruits as the mango, the Jack fruit, the jaboticaba,

the caju, the mangaba, the araca, the goiaba, the sapoti, and the

abacate. All these, when in flower, are a great attraction to the

birds, especially the Sugar Birds, Quits, and Hummers, and when

in fruit Tanagers and Thrushes abound.


The morning air is most exhilarating out there, and the people

of the country are very early risers; from 5 to 7 a.m. is by far

the nicest part of the day, the temperature then being about

75 degrees. In the middle of the day, in the houses, it rises to from

80 to 85, but the welcome sea breeze prevents the heat from becoming

oppressive. The houses are built to withstand the great heat, with

verandahs and plenty of windows which are always open. We

were there in the very dry season and the heat was terrific, but

I was surprised to find that I could get about with less discomfort

than over here during a hot spell.


When I arrived at the “pension”, which we had chosen especially

because it had a large garden, I found that our room was

immediately opposite a very large tree (a “ jambo ”, with pinkish

fruits looking like small pink wax pears and tasting like cotton

wool dipped in sugar and water !). This was not then in fruit, but

was covered with masses of creamy white blossoms from about 15

feet up to a great height and circumference. As I looked up I saw

hundreds of Banana Quits, several varieties, some very tiny, others

a little bigger, some very bright yellow, others duller. I also

noticed several Yellow Tanagers ( Calliste flava), this being a very



