64 
Mr. G. L. Bates— Field-Notes on the 
hovering, in the manner of Humming-birds, is never kept up 
for long at a time, it is a mistake to say that Sunbirds 
do not hover at all. 
The stomach-contents of these birds consist most fre¬ 
quently of spiders and a liquid. In my notebook, under 
one specimen, this liquid is stated to have been “ sweet 33 ; I 
must have ventured to taste it. 
In my paper on Breeding-Seasons” (‘The Ibis/ 1908, 
p. 568) are some remarks about the moulting of these Sun- 
birds. 
1884. ClNNYRIS CHLOROPYGIUS. [Zesol.] 
deich. Y. A. iii. p. 486. 
Cinnyrispreussi Sharpe, Ibis, 1908, p. 338. 
As the little Sunbirds called “ G. preussi ” in the paper in 
‘ The Ibis ; cited above have the upper tail-coverts green like 
the backs and not violet, they would seem to be referable 
to C. chloropygius. Most of my birds were too small to be 
C. preussi , but they varied in size a good deal. 
This, the smallest of our Sunbirds, is the most abundant 
species on the shrubs and flowering trees of the open country, 
though never seen in the forest. Many individuals assemble 
about the flowers, and a tree in blossom may actually be full 
of them, at a distance looking like insects flying among the 
flowers. They move very quickly. When one of these little 
fellows passes near it is scarcely visible, from its small¬ 
ness and the swiftness of its flight. They are rightly called 
Sunbirds, in that they seem to like the sunshine, even when 
it is hot. At mid-day, when other birds have sought the 
shade and are still, these little Sunbirds are flitting about as 
actively as ever. 
They are generally silent, except for a little chirping, 
like that of an insect, made in the smallest of voices as they 
flit by. But the males have a pretty little song that is 
occasionally heard. 
The food of this small species seems to be about the same 
as that of the larger Sunbirds, consisting mostly of small 
insects, mainly spiders. In some stomachs were found what 
looked like tiny bits of flowers that had been picked and 
