THE



Avicultural Magazine


THE JOURNAL OF THE

AVICULTURAL SOCIETY



Fourth Series .— Vol. XII.—No. 6 .—All rights reserved. JUNE, 1934



HUMMING BIRDS


By the Hon. Anthony Chaplin, F.Z.S., M.B.O.U.


“ Of all animated beings this is the most elegant in form and the

most brilliant in colour,” wrote Button : a daring statement if we

pause to consider Nature’s many other works of beauty, for among

the Lepidoptera are there not jewels without rival ? Yet we must

forgive one, who has, like ourselves, fallen under the spell of the

Trochilidse to the extent of being unable to find in our vast vocabulary

terms fit to express their surpassing loveliness. Be that as it may,

these panegyrics are by no means confined to that illustrious Frenchman,

for Wilson, Waterton, Audubon, and Gosse are among others who have

been prompted to give vent to their feelings on this subject. Indeed,

so much has been written about Humming Birds that we need only

recommend the writings of the above and other authors, while we

confine our efforts to recording a few observations on the birds in

captivity.


Humming Birds have much about them that seems hardly in

keeping with very small birds. At times we are forcibly reminded of

much stronger types such as Boilers and even Hornbills. I will give

as an instance the deliberate and slow manner in which even the

tiniest Hummer scratches its neck with its claw ; there is none of

that almost invisibly rapid movement we are so used to in most small

birds generally. Again, a typical Hummer attitude is to sit with the


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