THE



Avicultural Magazine


THE JOURNAL OF THE

AVICULTURAL SOCIETY



Fourth Series.- —Vol. XL—No. 12 .—All rights reserved . DECEMBER, 1933



HUMMING BIRDS


By the Hon. Anthony Chaplin


The essentially new-world family of the Trochilidse is in many

respects allied to the Swifts, although this is more apparent in the

nestling, which has a short beak and wide gape, than in the adult,

and the tropical Palm-swifts show the relationship more strongly

than the typical species.


The Humming Birds have always been surrounded by mystery

and romance, which is due hardly less to the fact that they inhabit

such a magnificent country than to their beauty of form and incredible

swiftness. According to the religious belief of the Mexicans, Targamiqui,

the spouse of the god of war, conducted the souls of those warriors,

who had died in the defence of the gods, into the mansions of the sun

and there transformed them into Humming Birds. The native names,

in like manner, reflect the impression these wonders of creation have

made upon the minds of men, and such a one as “ Tresses of the

daystar ” is certainly more imaginative, if less compact, than our

trivial name for the family.


The country which boasts the most spectacular forms and the

greatest variety of species is that portion of the great Andean chain

which lies almost under the Equator. These luxuriant slopes are

indeed a fit setting for the jewels that abound thereon.


And far above the more sheltered regions Humming Birds are

found up to the very edge of the line of perpetual snow. Humboldt



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