An Amateur's Experience in Importing Humming Birds 125


They certainly were a fine sight and I never had a greater thrill.

He must have had at least a hundred Hummers, all in glorious

condition : the Bizorro as they call it (probably the Pigmy Wood

Hermit, a tiny brown thing no larger than a bumble bee), some of

the larger Wood Hermits, and Jacobins with glistening white tails

and wings, all of which had been in his aviaries for months.


He showed me with pride a tiny Horned Hummer which nothing

apparently would induce him to part with. He found a mate for

it, however, and I persuaded him to let me have the pair; but,

alas! they both died on almost the first night on the journey home,

after the rough usage they had had on the quay and on the ship

before I could get things straightened out. Besides the Hummers

there w r as a glorious collection of Manakins —Manacus manacus,

Pipra rufocapilla, rare Tanagers, Cayenne Crakes, Water Tyrants,

and even a Swallow.


I was soon told that I could have none of these treasures as they

were all booked to go to Germany via Havre in a few days. I believe

some of the Hummers were bought by Mr. Ezra for the Zoo.

Naturally, I felt crestfallen, but Mr. Cordier told me that more

could be found and collected for me. I told him what I wanted and

he said he would find all he could, and he did. It was a great

disadvantage of course to have to bring over newly caught birds, and

under a week before I sailed for home most of my Manakins,

Nemosia pileata, and several others were still being hancl-fed. What

an education it was to watch Mr. Cordier do this. If the newly

caught birds do not start to feed very quickly he liberates them and

they fly straight back to the forests.


Besides Mr. Cordier I went to a certain Joao da Matta, a smart

native who had been trained by Mr. Cordier, and from him I got

Sporophila hypoleuca , the five Hummers of a new species ( Helio¬

master squamosa), and several of the rarer birds I brought over.


Around Pernambuco, in the surrounding towns, there are held

on Sundays various fairs. I managed to attend two of these and

on each occasion I was fortunate in finding something rare. I was

in Brazil for three Sundays and would have managed to attend

several more fairs—*' £ feiras ” they are called over there-—but could



