28 
PICARIAN BIRDS. 
humming-birds ( E. condamini ) has been observed feeding from the flowers of a 
plant, in which the curved form of the corolla exactly corresponded with the curva¬ 
ture of the bill of the bird, while at the same time the bald patch on the centre of 
the crown of the latter affords a fair field for the pistils to smear, as the bird probes 
the flower. The plant in question is abundant on the sides of the paths, and is 
always covered with plenty of flowers; but although the bird is often met with, it 
cannot be called plentiful. It stops but a short time on the flower, and is therefore 
not very easy to procure. In the stomach remains of different species of gnats 
have been observed. In Salvin’s hermit (E. salvini), ranging from Costa Rica to 
Panama, the head is wholly feathered; while the species also differs from the last 
in having no buff colour on the outer tail-feathers, which have likewise no white 
tips; there is also no blue patch on the neck. Mr. Merrill, who met with the 
species in Panama, writes that “ one day, while hunting a short distance from the 
camp for humming-birds, I was startled by the swift approach of a small object 
through the close thicket, which darted like a rifle-bullet past me, with a loud hum 
and buzzing of wings. Indeed it was this great noise which accompanied its flight, 
being so much greater than I had ever heard before from any of these winged 
meteors of the southern forests, that especially attracted my attention as something 
uncommon. The bird continued its flight but a short distance beyond the spot 
where I stood, when it suddenly stopped in its rapid course directly in front of a 
flower. There for a moment poising itself in this position, it darted upon the 
flower in a peculiar manner; in fact, the movements of this little creature which 
now followed were exceedingly curious to me. Instead of inserting its beak into 
the calyx by advancing in a direct line towards the flower, as customary with this 
class of birds according to my limited observations, this one performed a curvilinear 
movement, at first stooping forward while it introduced its bill into the calyx, and 
then, when apparently the beak had reached the desired locality in the flower, its 
body suddenly dropped downwards, so that it seemed as if it was suspended from 
the flowers by its beak. That this was not actually the case, the continued rapid 
movement of its wings demonstrated beyond a doubt. In this position it remained 
for the ordinary length of time, and then by performing these movements, in the 
reverse order and direction, it freed itself from the flower, and afterwards pro¬ 
ceeded to the adjoining one, when the same operation was repeated. The flower 
was that of a species of palm, the blossoms of which are attached alternately on 
either side to a pendent stalk. Each flower resembles an inverted Roman helmet, 
and is attached, as it were, by the point of the crest to the stalk. It is a fleshy 
mass of a deep crimson colour, and the cavity of the calyx extends in a tortuous 
manner downwards towards the attachment of the flower to the stalk.” 
The members of the genus Phaethornis are clull-plumaged birds, 
of a fair size generally, and remarkable for their wedge-shaped tails, 
the feathers of which are mostly tipped with white or buff. The bill is long and 
curved, but not to the same extent as in the last genus. Sixteen species of hermits 
are known, ranging from Mexico, throughout Central America to Southern Brazil 
and Bolivia. The nest is an elongated structure, placed at the extremity of one 
side of long-pointed leaves, as if for protection from the attacks of monkeys and 
other animals. The hermits are plentifully represented in Brazil, where they 
The True Hermits. 
