Chapter XIX: Introduction (18)

Sub-fam. 1. _Caprimulginae._–_Caprimulgus europaeus_, the Nightjar, Goatsucker, or Fern-Owl, visits Britain for the summer, and extends from Europe and North Africa to South Mongolia in Asia, reaching North-West India and South Africa in winter. _C. ruficollis_ of South-West Europe and the neighbouring portions of Africa has once occurred in England, as has _C. aegyptius_ of North-East Africa and West Asia. The genera _Heleothreptus_ of Brazil and Argentina, and _Macrodipteryx_ of Tropical Africa, contain respectively one and two members, remarkable for the extraordinary elongation of the remiges in the male. _H. anomalus_ has the first six primaries curved inwards, the seventh, eighth, and ninth prolonged–especially the eighth; _M. vexillarius_, the Pennant-winged Nightjar, has the same three feathers produced, but the ninth in particular; _M. macrodipterus_ has the ninth alone extended, with long bare shaft and racquet-like tip: and this is at times erected when the bird is sitting on the ground. _Scotornis climacurus_ of the north of Tropical Africa, the four species of _Hydropsalis_, inhabiting South America southwards to Argentina, and the three of _Macropsalis_, ranging from Panama to Bolivia and South-East Brazil, have enormously elongated rectrices, the median pair being highly developed in the first-named, the whole number in the second, and the lateral pair in the last. These long feathers seem to impede the flight but little, though _Hydropsalis_ constantly opens and shuts its tail in the air.

Sub-fam. 2. _Nyctibiinae._–Six species of _Nyctibius_ occur in Tropical America, including Jamaica, and utter wailing cries.

{419}Fam. IX. PODARGIDAE.–This group includes some five and twenty members of the genera _Podargus_, _Batrachostomus_[239] (Frog-mouth), and _Aegotheles_. The first and last occupy Papuasia, Tasmania, and Australia, the second ranges from the Himalayas to Ceylon, the Philippines, and Malay Islands.

Fam. X. STEATORNITHIDAE.–This contains only the curious Guácharo, or Oil-bird (_Steatornis caripensis_) discovered in 1799 by Humboldt and Bonpland at Caripé in Venezuela, but now known to breed also in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, as well as in Guiana and Trinidad. Somewhat intermediate between the Owls and the Nightjars, this species is about the size of a Crow, with a similar hard beak, hooked and deeply notched, while it has twelve long stiff bristles on each side of the gape. The tibiae and metatarsi are covered with smooth, flesh-coloured skin, the toes being deeply cleft, and not basally united. The tongue is thin and triangular, the nostrils have a horny covering, the after-shaft is fairly large, while the rest of the structure is mainly Caprimulgine. The acuminate and not particularly soft feathers are chocolate and grey, with darker barring above, and shew white spots, often surrounded by black, in various parts. This bird inhabits sea-side or mountain-caverns, only issuing forth at dusk to traverse considerable distances in search of its food, which consists mainly, if not wholly, of fruits. The flight is noiseless, and occasionally high in the air. Visitors to the breeding caves are suddenly surrounded by a circling crowd of Oil-birds uttering loud croaking or rasping cries, the effect being enhanced by the rush of multitudinous wings. A more plaintive note is uttered by individuals at rest. The numerous nests, each containing from two to four white or dirt-begrimed eggs, are flat circular masses of a clay-like substance, placed on ledges or in holes; while the nestlings are considered a table delicacy, though said to be scented like cockroaches. The natives systematically kill large numbers at certain seasons by knocking them down with poles when scared by torchlight, and melt out the abundant fat to procure the oil, which gives the bird its name. This oil is used for illumination or cooking, and keeps admirably.

* * * * *

The Sub-Order CYPSELI consists of the Families _Cypselidae_ or Swifts, and _Trochilidae_ or Humming-birds,[240] which were first {420}grouped together by Nitzsch as _Macrochires_ (long-handed forms) from the length of their manual bones, though really the parts of the wing nearer the body are proportionally most elongated.

Swifts certainly differ from Humming-birds in the broad, flat skull, the short curved bill, and the extremely wide gape, besides their comparatively sombre coloration; but these facts cannot be allowed to militate against an alliance so strongly confirmed by many points of structure, while nothing but the pardonable ignorance of former times caused the Family to be united with their Passerine analogues, the Swallows. The _Cypselidae_ agree with the _Trochilidae_ in the number and colour of their eggs, and the extraordinarily deep keel of the sternum, which, with the long wings, gives so great a power of flight.

Fam. XI. CYPSELIDAE.–Of this group three Sub-families may be recognised, (1) _Macropteryginae_, (2) _Chaeturinae_, and (3) _Cypselinae_.

The short but robust metatarsi are scutellated anteriorly, the scales being nearly obsolete in the Chaeturinae; fairly powerful claws terminate the free toes, which are all directed forwards in the Cypselinae, though the hallux is somewhat laterally inclined in _Panyptila_, and is said to be occasionally versatile in the other Sub-families. The middle and outer digits in the Cypselinae have the further peculiarity of possessing only three joints, while the metatarsi or even the toes are feathered. The ten primaries, and especially the exterior, are extremely long, with thick narrow outer webs; the short secondaries vary from six to eight. The square or forked tail has ten rectrices–not uncommonly rigid and pointed–as against twelve in Swallows. The furcula is U-shaped; the tongue sagittate; the syrinx tracheo-bronchial (the muscles not being inserted on the bronchial rings); the aftershaft is large or small; the adults have a little blackish down on the unfeathered spaces; the nestlings are blind and naked.

The coloration is usually greenish-black or mouse-brown, occasionally with a white chin, breast, or rump; a rufous collar or chestnut ear-coverts occur in _Macropteryx_ and _Cypseloïdes_, where alone the males differ from the females, and the young from both. The Family ranges over the whole world, with the exception of the extreme north and south, New Zealand and some other islands; the six genera containing about eighty species varying in size from about four to fourteen inches.

{421}Swifts are essentially aërial, seldom alighting upon the ground, or perching except at night,[241] though they will cling to the entrance of their breeding quarters for a few seconds before entering. From a smooth flat surface they can hardly rise, but in the air they are perfectly at home, whether wheeling and circling at great altitudes, chasing each other aloft, consummating their love affairs, or sweeping over the earth's surface in pursuit of insects attracted by the damp. The exceptionally rapid flight is strong and practically unlimited in duration, two or three quick movements of the wings being repeatedly succeeded by a gliding motion. Though not gregarious in the ordinary sense, they habitually breed in company, and _Collocalia_ nests in vast colonies; a solitary bird, moreover, is comparatively seldom seen, and both before and during incubation our Common Swift flies in screaming flocks around the chosen sites. This species will pass and re-pass close to a pedestrian's head with noisy and apparently vicious rush, even when far from the nest; yet it is not really the intruder but insects that are the attraction, the food being entirely of that nature, and invariably captured in the air, while the beak may be seen filled to repletion when nestlings require to be supported. The voice is a shrill scream, constantly repeated. The districts frequented are of every description, _Cypselus andicola_ and _C. horus_ being particularly alpine; the nest varies to a considerable extent, though a glutinous substance secreted by the highly developed salivary glands is a constant, or frequently almost the sole, material. The situation may be a hole under thatch, slates or tiles; a crevice in a building, cliff, or tree; the perpendicular wall of a cave; the upper side of a branch, palm-leaf, or broad stalk; the lower surface of a rock, and so forth. The shape of the structure is tubular in _Panyptila_, where it is composed of seeds of plants; but generally it is saucer-like, the materials being straw, feathers, twigs, moss, or cottony vegetable matter, the first two of which have been stated to be caught floating in the air. The American Chimney-Swift plucks off branchlets as it flies. _Cypselus affinis_ and the species of _Collocalia_ commonly join their nests together in masses; Palm Swifts do so more rarely; _Cypselus caffer_ even utilizes those of other birds. The dull white eggs are oval and almost uniform at each end; {422}two or four being the usual complement, though three are exceptionally found, and _Macropteryx_ lays only one.

Sub-fam. 1. _Macropteryginae._–The Tree-Swifts, as they are called, have very soft plumage, a long, deeply-forked tail, a patch of downy feathers on the flanks, and elongated plumage on the top or sides of the head. They range from India and Ceylon through the Burmese and Malay countries, and the islands thence to the Solomon Group. _Macropteryx coronata_ of India, Ceylon, Burma, and Siam has bluish ash-coloured upper parts, glossed with metallic green, especially on the crested head, wings, and tail; the under surface is greyish and white, the chin and ear-coverts are rufous. The female lacks the chestnut. The nest is a half saucer of bits of bark and feathers, gummed by saliva to a branch some twenty feet from the ground, trees being usually selected in rough jungle on low hills. It contains one egg, and is so small that the sitting bird quite conceals it. Other species are _M. longipennis_, _M. wallacii_, _M. comata_, and the larger and most eastern _M. mystacea_.

Sub-fam. 2. _Chaeturinae._–Of the three genera, _Chaetura_, _Cypseloïdes_, and _Collocalia_, the first occurs from Central Asia and India to Japan, New Guinea and Australia; in Tropical Africa; and in the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions, except the extreme north and south. All the species, numbering about fifty, have rigid tail-feathers with more or less projecting spiny shafts, save in _Collocalia_.

_Chaetura caudacuta_, which has strayed to Britain and New Zealand, ranges from Mongolia and Japan to China and the Eastern Himalayas, wintering southwards to Australia and Tasmania. It is dusky-brown with greenish-black head, wings, and tail, white forehead and breast. The nest, placed on cliffs or in hollow trees, is probably similar to that of the next species, several pairs nidificating together. _C. pelagica_, the "Chimney Swallow" of the United States, chiefly found in the east, but extending to the Fur Countries and the Great Plains, and in winter at least to Mexico and Yucatan, is dark grey, with lighter lower surface, blackish head and wings. It has almost ceased to breed in trees, but fastens its semicircular nest of small twigs, glued together with salivary secretion, to the inside of chimneys, laying from four to six white eggs. _C. zonaris_, extending from the West Indies and Mexico to Argentina, is uniform blackish-brown with white collar and breast; _C. novae guineae_ of Papua is glossy greenish-blue above, and grey below, with an {423}exceptionally short tail; _C. ussheri_ of the Gold Coast is dark brown, varied with a good deal of white; _C. cassini_ of the Congo and Gaboon, and _C. boehmi_ of East Equatorial Africa, are glossy black with less white. _C. acuta_ of the West Indies, _C. grandidieri_ of Madagascar, and other forms, complete the genus.

In _Cypseloïdes_ the shafts of the rectrices scarcely project perceptibly; while the tail is emarginate in _C. niger_ of western North America, the Antilles, and Guiana. The coloration is plain black or brown, with a reddish collar round the neck in the males of _C. rutilus_ and _C. brunneitorques_. The genus ranges to Peru and Brazil. The nest, placed in holes in houses and so forth, is made of straw, leaves, and rubbish; the eggs are four or five.

_Collocalia_ is an especially interesting section of the Family, on account of the nests furnishing the birds'-nest soup of the Chinese. Being formed of the dried secretions of the salivary glands,[242] these are almost entirely glutinous, and when newly built are termed white or "first quality." The thirteen diminutive species are black or brown above, occasionally with a blue gloss, and white on the rump or tail; the under parts being whitish or grey. They are not migratory, but extend over most of the Indian and Australian regions, except the northernmost portions, being found as far south as North Australia. One form reaches the Mascarene Islands. Huge numbers breed in company in dark caves, sticking their nests close together upon the rocky walls, or even joining them in masses; the materials may include moss, straw, lichen, and so forth, but inspissated saliva is the chief, and often the only, constituent, especially in _C. fuciphaga_. Brown nests are those discoloured by use, or spoilt by an admixture of foreign substances, and are considered hardly worth collecting. Two eggs are the usual complement. The caverns are entered from boats below, or by ladders from above, other ladders or poles notched for the feet being fixed in the rocky flooring of the interior. These are ascended by natives armed with long-pronged forks, who obtain hundreds of nests at one gathering. Bats occupy the caves by day, the birds by night or when incubating; while at any time the noise of the escaping denizens is almost deafening. The breeding sites are a very lucrative property. The especially valuable _C. fuciphaga_, which obtained its specific name from the erroneous idea that it built {424}with partly digested sea-weed, extends (if we include several more or less distinct races) from the Duke of York Island and the Ladrones in the east to the hills of India, Ceylon, and the Mascarene Group in the west, a small species of slightly more eastern range with whitish band on the rump being known as _C. francica_.

Sub-fam. 3. _Cypselinae._–This contains only the genera _Panyptila_ and _Cypselus_, granted that the latter is not further divided. The former has feathered toes, a deeply forked tail with pointed outer feathers, and soft, silky black plumage, varied with white. The very remarkable architecture of _P. sancti hieronymi_ of Guatemala is described as follows by Mr. Salvin:[243] "The nest of this species is composed entirely of the seeds of a plant, secured together and hung from the under surface of an overhanging rock by the saliva of the bird. The whole structure measures 2 feet 2 inches in length, and is about 6 inches in diameter. The entrance is at the [lower] end, and the hollow for the eggs at the top." The cavity in the above case was in the shape of a walking-stick, with its knob bent laterally at the top, while a false entrance shewed at one side. _P. cayennensis_, ranging from Nicaragua to Brazil, makes a similar nest on trees.

The coloration of the twenty or more species of _Cypselus_ is sooty-black or mouse-brown, frequently exhibiting a metallic gloss, while the collar, rump, abdomen, or edges of the feathers may be white. A forked tail is not uncommon, and the strong toes are feathered in _C. melanoleucus_ and _C. squamatus_. _C. apus_, the Common Swift or Deviling of Britain, is found through Europe, North Africa, and Asia southward to the Himalayas, migrating to South Africa, Madagascar, and Southern Asia. A paler race (_C. pallidus_ or _murinus_) extends from the Atlantic Islands and the Mediterranean basin to Bogos Land and Sind. The habits are well-known; but it may be observed that in flying the wings take the form of a bent bow, and that on the Continent it builds in hollow trees instead of in holes under eaves, in walls or cliffs. Few individuals remain with us after early September. _C. unicolor_ is peculiar to Madeira, the Canaries, and the Cape Verd Islands; _C. affinis_ reaches from Africa and Palestine to India; _C. melba_, the "Alpine Swift," inhabits the same Asiatic countries, extending westward to South Europe and North Africa, and wandering north to Britain and Heligoland.

{425}

_C. caffer_ occurs in South Africa, Abyssinia, and Uganda, and exceptionally on the Congo; _C. horus_ across Tropical Africa; _C. andicola_ in Argentina, Peru, and Bolivia: _C. montivagus_ in the last two countries. _C. pacificus_ of East Asia, with Japan and the Burmese countries, reaches Australia in winter. Some species lay four or five eggs, and _C. melanoleucus_ of western North America utters a peculiar twitter in its nest, placed in clefts of rocks.[244] Five species of _Tachornis_, or Palm-Swift, here included under _Cypselus_, are found throughout the Ethiopian Region, from India and the Malay countries to China, and in the West Indies; _T._ (_Claudia_) _squamata_ occupying Guiana, Brazil, and East Peru. The toes point forward in two pairs, the tail is forked. These birds usually attach their nests {426}of cottony down and feathers to the leaves or spathes of palms with their saliva, but also breed on native huts.

Fossils referred to _Cypselus_ and _Collocalia_ occur in the Lower Miocene of France, while _Aegialornis_ of the Eocene (p. 315) is placed here by M. Milne-Edwards and re-named _Tachyornis_.

Fam. XII. The TROCHILIDAE, or Humming-birds, so called from the sound often made by the vibrating wings, are New World forms noted for their grace and beauty. The English name dates back to at least 1632, while one species from Hispaniola is mentioned as "paxaro mosquito" by Oviedo in his _Hystoria general de las Indias_, as early as 1525. This appellation still remains as the French "Oiseau-mouche," that of _Trochilus_ having been borrowed from Pliny by Barrère, who believed Humming-birds to be allied to the Wren, the _Trochilus_ in part of the Latin author. Τροχίλος, however, was applied by the Greeks to the smaller Plovers (p. 295), and apparently ὄρχιλος to the Wren, so that Pliny or his copyists originated a chain of errors. From native sources we have the names Guainumbi, Ourissia, and Colibri, from the Spanish "Picaflor" and Tominejo (atom); from Mexico "Chupa-rosa" and "Chupa-myrta" (Rose-sucker and Myrtle-sucker); from the West Indies "Murmures" and "Bourdons."[245]

The sternum is enormously developed both in length and depth of keel, thus furnishing a wide base for the attachment of the particularly strong wing-muscles, which support the untiring flight. Herein Humming-birds resemble Swifts, but the head is much more compressed, and the bill is slender and elongated, except in nestlings; they are in fact the longest billed members of the Class _Aves_ in proportion to their size, which in this Family reaches the minimum. Both mandibles may be serrated, and the maxilla is hooked in _Androdon_ and _Rhamphodon_; but for details of the variable beak, remiges and rectrices, reference must be made to the species described below. The metatarsus, feathered in such genera as _Eriocnemis_ and _Loddigesia_, is short; the toes being usually diminutive, but sometimes stronger, and the claws either small and rounded, or elongated, curved, and sharp. The ten primaries, of which the outermost is the longest, except in _Aithurus_–where it is shorter than the next–are frequently rigid; in the male "Sabre-wings" (p. 435) the shafts of two or three are extraordinarily dilated and curved; while the tenth is occasionally {427}filiform at the tip or narrowed throughout. The secondaries are only six, or rarely seven. The tail of ten feathers may be long or short, but differs profoundly in shape, texture, and colour; being for example cuneate in _Phaëthornis_ and _Sphenoproctus_, nearly square in _Urosticte_ and _Hylocharis_, rounded in _Adelomyia_ and _Polytmus_, deeply forked in _Sappho_, _Lesbia_, and the four genera next named, of which _Prymnacantha_ has the outer pair of rectrices very narrow and pointed, _Loddigesia_, _Spathura_, and _Discura_ spatulate.

The very characteristic tongue consists of a double tube, tapering and separating into two externally lacerated sheaths at the tip, which contain the extensile portion. The "horns" of the hyoid apparatus are greatly elongated, and pass round and over the back of the head, meeting near the top, and thence stretching in an ample groove to terminate in front of the eyes. This arrangement, analogous to that found in Woodpeckers, allows the tongue to be suddenly protruded to a considerable distance, and withdrawn again in an instant. The furcula is U-shaped; the syrinx has one or two pairs of tracheo-bronchial muscles; the aftershaft is very small; a crop is present; while down is absent from both nestlings and adults.

Except in the "Hermits" (p. 435), the brilliant coloration almost defies description, the most exquisite metallic[246] or jewel-like hues glorifying a background of green, blue, or brown; while crests, ear-tufts, neck-frills, and pendent beards ending in points or forks, add to the effect. Only among the Passerine Sun-birds (Nectariniidae) of the Indian and Ethiopian Regions can a fitting parallel be found; but these, though often erroneously termed Humming-birds, have no connexion with our New World group. _Eulampis_ and _Pterophanes_ are exceptional in not having dusky remiges. The females are usually sombre in comparison, and lack the ornaments of their consorts, which are said to be occasionally smaller. The statement that young males have no distinctive plumage seems incorrect.

These gems of Ornithology extend from the north to the extreme south of America, the habits differing slightly with the climate; _Selasphorus rufus_ of the Western United States reaches Mt. St. Elias in Alaska, _Trochilus colubris_ occurs in the east up to lat. 57° N., _Eustephanus galeritus_ frequents Tierra del Fuego {428}even in snowy weather, while _Oreotrochilus chimborazo_ and _O. pichincha_ brave the storms of the volcanic regions of the Andes of Ecuador, close to the perpetual snow at a height of sixteen thousand feet. The forms found in the furthest north and south are few, and draw towards the equator at the cold time of year; while the successional flowering of insect-attracting plants, and the seasonal alteration of the snow-line, cause latitudinal or altitudinal movements of the same nature. Only eighteen species are recognised as occurring north of Mexico by New World ornithologists, but many more inhabit Central America, which are either peculiar to that region and even its elevated tablelands, or range into South America; none, however, being migrants in the strict sense of the word. The headquarters of the Family lie in Colombia and Guiana, though Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil claim many, and some of the finest, forms: on the other hand, the dry Peruvian plains and the Argentine Pampas lack sufficient insect-food to be favourite residences. With regard to the West Indies the numbers increase from the Bahamas to Trinidad, each island often having its own species; _Eustephanus galeritus_, _E. fernandensis_ and _E. leyboldi_ occupy the Juan Fernandez group, and the first-named Chili and the Straits of Magellan also. Humming-birds may be roughly divided as alpine, sub-alpine, and lowland, while it may be noticed that comparatively few inhabit the great forest-clad delta of the Amazon, the congenial centre of so much bird-life.

The Trochilidae live almost entirely in the air, and fly powerfully, though seldom to great distances; they will flit from flower to flower for hours, darting off to each new blossom with arrow-like speed, and remaining suspended before it, with the body vertical and the wings in a state of tremulous motion, while probing the inmost recesses. This is commonly accompanied by a vibratory movement of the tail, which in some cases opens and shuts like a fan. The humming sound, produced at each new departure or change of course, and audible for several yards, is due to a pulsation of the wings, so rapid that little can be seen of the bird but an indistinct misty outline. Messrs. A. and E. Newton give the following charming account of _Eulampis holosericeus_[247]:–"One is admiring the clustering stars of a Scarlet _Cordia_, the snowy cornucopias of a _Portlandia_, or some other {429}brilliant and beautiful flower, when between the blossom and one's eye suddenly appears a small dark object, suspended as it were between four short black threads meeting each other in a cross. For an instant it shows in front of the flower; an instant more, it steadies itself, and one perceives the space between each pair of threads occupied by a grey film; again another instant, and emitting a momentary flash of emerald and sapphire light it is vanishing, lessening in the distance, as it shoots away, to a speck that the eye cannot take note of,-–and all this so rapidly that the word on one's lips is still unspoken, scarcely the thought in one's mind changed. It was a bold man or an ignorant one who first ventured to depict Humming-birds flying; but it cannot be denied that representations of them in that attitude are often of special use to the ornithologist. The peculiar action of this, and probably many or all other species of the Family, is such, that at times, in flying, it makes the wings almost meet both in front and behind at each vibration. Thus, when a bird chances to enter a room, it will generally go buzzing along the cornice; standing beneath where it is, one will find that the axis of the body is vertical, and each wing is describing a nearly perfect semicircle. As might be expected, the pectoral muscles are very large, indeed the sternum of this bird is a good deal bigger than that of the common Chimney Swallow (_Hirundo rustica_, L.). But the extraordinary rapidity with which the vibrations are effected seems to be chiefly caused by these powerful muscles acting on the very short wing-bones, which are not half the length of the same parts in the Swallow; and accordingly, great as this alar action is, and in spite of the contrary opinion entertained by Mr. Gosse (_Nat. Sojourn in Jamaica_, 240), it is yet sometimes wanting in power, owing, doubtless, to the disadvantageous leverage thus obtained; and the old authors must be credited who speak of cobwebs catching Humming-birds."

{430}Darwin[248] writes of _Patagona gigas_: "Like others of the genus, it moves from place to place, with a rapidity which may be compared to that of _Syrphus_ among diptera and _Sphinx_ [especially the Humming-bird Sphinx (_Macroglossa stellatarum_)] among moths, but whilst hovering over a flower, it flaps its wings with a very slow and powerful movement, totally different from that vibratory one, common to most of the species, which produces the humming noise." This slower movement has been observed also in _Pterophanes temmincki_, and no doubt in other large forms, of which the aerial course is perhaps more zigzag and jerky than elsewhere. Certain species habitually sit with puffed out plumage and somewhat elevated bills; others soar, or skim the surface of water like Bats; the tail-feathers, moreover, are often moved sideways or twisted during flight, especially when they are elongated or spatulate; and _Loddigesia_ constantly extends them perpendicularly to the body, if not further forward, though the racquet-tips may at other times be almost in contact.

The food consists almost entirely of insects, while the alimentary canal shews but little trace of honey, which the birds nevertheless seem to enjoy, when swallowed with the creatures which it allures; and as these appear on the lips of flowers chiefly after wet, or in the morning and evening, their feathered foes are naturally then most active. Cacti, alstroemeriae, orchids, and composites seem particularly attractive, and tubular blossoms to the long-billed species especially. Those with shorter beaks, being unable to penetrate the deepest tubes, are said to pierce the hinder portions, while it is asserted that those with extremely curved mandibles even make use of a twofold process, first inserting the tips, and then raising themselves slightly so as to penetrate the recesses. _Rhamphodon_, _Phaëthornis_, _Eutoxeres_, and _Chlorostilbon_ examine the crevices of trees and walls for spiders, which they habitually eat; while the "Hermits," balanced in the air, pass the bill carefully though quickly over the lower surface of leaves in search of insect-diet. _Oreotrochilus pichincha_ has been observed clinging to rocks and feeding upon the ground; _Aithurus_, _Petasophora_, _Pygmornis_, _Lampornis_, _Patagona_ and other species, take up posts on dead branches or twigs, thence darting upon their prey in Fly-catcher-like style. Gould once managed to reach the shores of England with two examples, kept alive on sweetened water and yolk of egg.

{431}The males are extraordinarily pugnacious, and one will furiously set upon another who interferes in the least with his comfort, the pair circling around with reiterated, high-pitched notes, attacking and withdrawing in turn, almost heedless of a fall or collision; finally, beak grasps beak, and the struggle grows more intense, until the defeated combatant retreats to some friendly tree, only to renew the fight with vigour unimpaired should his defiant note exasperate his rival beyond control. Or again, should a prowling hawk, an inoffensive heron or thrush, or even a human being, pass perilously near a nest, the cock will make a determined onslaught, often with complete success; the hen following his example, if she feels called upon to protect her charge. These tiny creatures seem absolutely fearless, and frequently feed at once from the hand when caught.

The twittering voice is variously described as a chirp, a squeak, a querulous warble, a whistle, a loud clear piping cry, or a shrill screech, while the absence of proper song-muscles makes it difficult to credit Gosse's statement that _Mellisuga minima_ utters a weak, sweet warble, lasting for ten minutes.[249]

The nest is usually a moderately deep, round or oval cup-like structure, which may be no larger than a walnut-shell; this is formed of the cottony down of plants, moss, wool, or like materials, felted into an extremely light and spongy mass, and often decorated externally with lichens, cobwebs, shreds of bark, or even feathers and dry leaves. It is placed in a small fork, saddled upon a bough, hung from creepers, laced among branchlets, or exceptionally fastened to thatch. In _Rhamphodon_, _Phaëthornis_, _Cephalolepis_, _Heliothrix_, and possibly elsewhere, a fabric of very delicate twigs, fibres, and bark is attached to the lower part of a palm or similar leaf, several rings of supporting fibre encircling the portion near the stalk, and spiders' webs or silky threads aiding to sustain the sides of the structure, which in depth and make recalls that of the Reed-Warbler. _Oreotrochilus_ forms a peculiar "hammock" of moss, grass, and so forth, attached by like contrivances to rocks; or at times suspends a mass of wool, hair, moss, and feathers, as large as a child's head, with a small depression above for the eggs, from pendent roots, tendrils, or creepers. This is said to be weighted on either side, if necessary, with small stones or morsels of earth, and is repaired for use in {432}successive years. Humming-birds never lay more than two eggs, and sometimes only one; these are plain dull white, and similarly shaped at both ends. The young are hatched blind and naked, and are then about the size of humble bees: but they leave the nest comparatively soon, and are precocious as regards flight. The duration of incubation, which is apparently not shared by the male, is variously stated at ten, twelve, or even more days, and two broods are said to be reared in a season; the first point is clearly doubtful; but, considering the extent of the season fit for nidification, the latter is not improbable. The parents have been known to add to a nest, as the young outgrew it. The cock courts the hen most assiduously, circling around her with dilated throat and swelling plumage, and searching for food to offer, while he carefully watches over her when sitting. Humming-birds have been often said to be killed with water in place of lead, but in truth diminutive pellets of the latter are used, as an alternative to the blow-pipe with its clay ball, or to bird-lime. Immense quantities are exported for decorative purposes, and the Mexicans make pictures of the feathers.

The late Mr. Salvin, who divided the Family into groups by the serration of the beak,[250] recognised a hundred and twenty-seven genera with some five hundred species, while Audubon, Bates, Gosse, Gould, Mulsant, Wilson and Waterton, Count Berlepsch, Messrs. Elliot, Hartert, Ridgway, and Wallace may be mentioned among other Trochilidists. The largest form, _Patagona gigas_, measures nearly nine inches, _Mellisuga minima_ and others about two and a half.

(1) Forms with distinctly serrated beaks. _Heliothrix_ of Central and South America southward to Brazil contains three members with wedge-shaped bills and blue tufts behind the ears. The females differ little from the males in colour, but have longer tails. _Augastes_ contains the two "Vizor-bearers" of South-East Brazil, so-called from the appearance of the head and throat; _A. lumachellus_ is bronzy green, with a very brilliant green throat terminated by a red line, a little blue shewing between these two colours; the crown is velvety black, the pectoral band white, the tail bright bronzy-red. The female is less highly coloured and has a green head. _Rhamphodon naevius_ of the same country, and _Androdon aequatorialis_ of Colombia and Ecuador, have the bill strongly hooked; the latter is brownish-green above and greyish below, with a blue nape and white rump-bar.

{433}

_Chlorostilbon_, ranging from Mexico to Argentina, possesses some dozen green species with blue or purplish tails, which are forked or rounded; _Panychlora_ of Colombia and Venezuela is similar; _Sporadinus_, differing in its bronzy-black rectrices, inhabits Florida, the Bahamas, and the greater Antilles. In _Aithurus polytmus_, peculiar to Jamaica, the two tail-feathers next to the outer pair are immensely elongated, and, after crossing one another, bend outwards in a curve; the lateral rectrices are bluish-black, as is the head with its divided crest; all the other parts being luminous green, and the bill red with black tip. The female is chiefly green above and white below, with brownish crown. The two species of _Microchera_ of Panama, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua, change with the light from coppery-red to black, and have a greenish throat, a white crown, and a partly white tail, except the median feathers. The hen is green above and white below. _Lampornis_, with about ten species, ranges from South Mexico and the West Indies to Brazil. _L. violicauda_, the South American "Mango," is green with velvety black abdomen and throat, the latter being edged with blue; the lateral rectrices are violet. _Avocettula recurvirostris_ of Guiana, with its golden green coloration, emerald breast, and tail fiery red beneath in the male, has an upturned tip to the bill, recalling that of the Avocet. The female is chiefly white below. _Eulampis holosericeus_, extending from Barbados to St. Thomas, is golden-green, {434}with glittering blue tail-coverts and chest; the rectrices are steel-blue, the wings and abdomen blackish. _E. jugularis_, of the Windward Islands, has green wings and red throat. _Petasophora_ contains some seven members, ranging from South Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil, with fine blue or purple ear-tufts, which occasionally meet in front. _Chrysolampis mosquitus_, extending from New Granada to Guiana and Brazil, with Trinidad, is often called the Ruby-and-Topaz Humming-bird, from its ruby-red head and nape, and topaz-orange throat and breast; the upper surface is velvety brown, the tail chestnut, the abdomen olive. The plumage of the male is largely used for decoration; but the female is chiefly dull bronzy-green with whitish lower parts.

(2) Forms with feebly serrated beaks. The large musky-scented _Pterophanes temmincki_, of the Andes from Colombia to Bolivia, is dark green, with the whole wing blue above and below, except for its black tip. The hen-bird is rufous beneath and has purplish-black remiges. _Diphlogaena iris_, the lovely fork-tailed Rainbow, has a golden-green forehead, an orange-scarlet crown with a rich violet-blue median stripe, a black nape, a lustrous lilac throat-spot, a chestnut rump-region, tail and abdomen, and green plumage elsewhere. The female has little or no copper or blue tints. This species inhabits the Andes from Ecuador to Bolivia, and has two similar congeners. _Cyanolesbia gorgo_ of Colombia and Venezuela is green, with the throat sapphire-blue and the tail violet-blue in the male, these parts being white and nearly green respectively in the hen, which has the under parts chestnut. _Sappho_, of Peru, Bolivia, Chili, and Argentina, includes two exceptionally lovely birds with long forked tails and luminous throats. _S. sparganura_, the "Sappho Comet," is bronzy-green with crimson back and fiery orange rectrices, which are black at the tip and brown at the base. _S. phaon_ has both the above parts lustrous crimson. The females have short tails and lack the red back. The four members of _Lesbia_, another genus with a long forked tail, occupy the Andes from Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia; _L. victoriae_, the "Train-bearer" of Bogota, being golden green with glittering throat and purplish-black tail tipped with green; the hen is green and white below, and has the narrow rectrices shorter. _Metallura_, with about nine species, is found in the same countries. _Eustephanus galeritus_ of Chili, the Straits of Magellan, {435}and Juan Fernandez, which haunts damp shady spots, is bronzy-green, with fiery red crown, and greyish-white under parts spotted with green. The female has the crown green. _E. fernandensis_ inhabits Juan Fernandez, and _E. leyboldi_ Masafuera. _Panterpe insignis_ of Costa Rica is bluish-green, with glittering blue crown and breast, blue-black tail, and bright scarlet throat shading into orange laterally. _Cyanomyia verticalis_ of Mexico is brownish-green above and white below, with shining cobalt head and sides of the neck, and a reddish bill. The hen has a duller crown. _Amazilia_ contains some thirty diverse members ranging from North Mexico to Peru, Guiana, Trinidad, and Tobago. _A. pristina_ of Peru is greenish-bronze, with chestnut sides, rump, and tail, emerald throat, and white middle to the breast and abdomen. _A. cyanura_ of Guatemala and Nicaragua is entirely green, though bluer towards the tail, and shining below. _Cyanophaea caeruleigularis_ of Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia is bright green, with glittering violet-blue chest. _Hylocharis_ ranges from Guiana to South Brazil, _H. sapphirina_ being deep green, with bronzy rump and tail, chestnut chin, sapphire-blue throat and breast. The female is whitish below with little blue.

(3) Forms with smooth beaks. _Eutoxeres_, which has the bill curved almost into a semi-circle, was placed by Gould with _Rhamphodon_ and _Phaëthornis_ in a Sub-family _Phaëthornithinae_, as opposed to _Trochilinae_, but this has not been generally accepted. The sixteen or more species of _Phaëthornis_, extending from South Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil, are often termed "Hermits" from their sombre tints of dull green, grey, and brown, or from their habit of frequenting dark forest-recesses. The tail is cuneate and the claws rather large. _Eupetomena macrura_ of Brazil and Guiana, termed the "Swallow-tail" from its forking rectrices, has the two outer primaries in the male with curved and dilated shafts; the three outer feathers being similar in _Campylopterus_ and _Sphenoproctus_, which range through Central America, and in the last case northern South America. The members of these three genera are denominated "Sabre-wings." The above species is green, with deep cobalt head and throat, and steel-blue tail. _Eugenes fulgens_ of South Arizona, Mexico, and Guatemala is bronzy-green changing to black, the throat being lustrous green, and the crown rich violet. The female has a brownish crown, and greyish lower surface. _E. spectabilis_ of Costa Rica is similar. {436}_Docimastes ensifer_ of Colombia and Ecuador, which has a straight bill, longer than the head and body together, is coppery-green, with black cheeks and throat, and glittering green breast; the last being green and white in the hen. _Florisuga mellivora_, the Jacobin, occurring from South Mexico to Amazonia, is green, with the head and entire neck blue, the base of the hind-neck, the abdomen, and the middle of the lateral rectrices white. The female is chiefly green, varied with white below. _Topaza pella_, the "Crimson Topaz" or "King Humming-bird" of Guiana, is golden-red above, with greenish-orange rump, dark purple and cinnamon wings, and rufous lateral rectrices. The two median tail-feathers are bronzy with black tips; the next pair, which are elongated and curve outwards, are purplish-black; the throat is lustrous golden; the narrow pectoral band is black; the remaining lower parts are crimson. The hen is grass-green, with crimson on the throat, and black and cinnamon on the outer tail-feathers. The nest has been stated to be made of a fungus, and certainly the appearance justifies the assertion; but Dr. Paul, a great authority on Fungi, writes of an example which he brought home for the author from the Pomeroon river:–"The felt is formed of the fluff which clothes the young flower-spathes of the Kokerite Palm (_Maximiliana martiana_)," and his evidence ought to settle the question. _T. pyra_, of the Rio Negro and Eastern Ecuador, is redder above, with no cinnamon on the wings or lateral rectrices. The genus _Oreotrochilus_, and the four next succeeding, have particularly strong feet. In common with some half a dozen congeners which range southwards to Chili, _O. pichincha_ of Ecuador inhabits the cloudy regions of the Andes near the snow-line; it is olive-green above, and has an entirely violet-blue head and throat, the latter being followed by a black line and white lower parts, while the lateral tail-feathers are steel-blue and white. The female is green above, ashy and white below. _Oreonympha nobilis_ of Peru, which has a peculiar habit of suddenly stopping in its flight, is a large bird with somewhat forking rectrices. The main colour is bronzy-brown, with a blue crown divided in the centre by a brown bar; the black of the cheeks runs to a point below; the chin is green and the beard crimson; the lower parts are greyish-white; the tail has the external pair of feathers white. The hen has a brown and greenish crown and a black throat. _Oxypogon guerini_ of {437}Colombia, the "Warrior" or "Helmet-crest," is dark green, with blackish sides to the head, a black and white crest, a green and white chin margined with black, a white beard, a greyish abdomen, and purplish and white lateral rectrices. The female lacks the elongated feathers, and has white under parts spotted with dusky. _Rhamphomicron heteropogon_ of Colombia, one of the sharp-beaked "Thornbills," is greenish-bronze, with browner tail and abdomen, and a long amethystine beard surrounded by bronzy-black. _R. microrhynchum_, having rich purple upper parts and a lustrous green throat, extends to Ecuador, while other members of the genus range to Bolivia. The hens are comparatively dull. _Opisthoprora euryptera_ of Colombia, which is bronzy-green with a little rufous and white below, has an upcurved bill, like _Avocettula_. _Patagona gigas_, the largest Humming-bird known, inhabits the Andes from Ecuador to Chili; it is greenish-brown, with white rump and rufous under parts. In _Aglaeactis_, of the Andes from Colombia to Bolivia, the coloration is brown, dark buff, or black, with glittering amethystine or green lower back, and a white or buff pectoral tuft. The chief marvel of the Family is, however, _Loddigesia mirabilis_, originally found in Northern Peru by a botanist named Matthews, and rediscovered by M. Stolzmann[251] in almost the same locality. It is shining bronzy-green, with whitish under parts surrounding a black central area; the head and its crest are lustrous cobalt-blue, the throat is emerald-green with black margin, the metatarsi are covered with white feathers. The two lateral rectrices are extraordinarily prolonged, and resemble black wires with large steel-blue terminal discs; the shafts normally cross each other at their bases and again near their tips, but the discs are frequently brought together in flight, or extended horizontally, if not turned above the head. The median tail-feathers are much reduced. The female is green, varied with white below; the external pair of steel-blue lateral rectrices shewing small spatules. _Cephalolepis delalandi_, of South-East Brazil, is bronzy-green above, and fine violet-blue bordered with grey below, while the long glittering green crest terminates in a single black plume. The crestless hen is grey below. _Eriocnemis_, of the Andes from Colombia and Venezuela to Bolivia, shares with _Panoplites_ and the spatulate-tailed _Spathura_ of the same regions the characteristic of possessing {438}muff-like tufts of black, white, or buff, which cover the metatarsi. To take an example of the twenty or more species, where the sexes are fairly similar, _E. cupreiventris_ is bronzy-green, with brighter under surface, purplish-black tail, reddish abdomen, and lustrous blue under tail-coverts. _Calothorax lucifer_, the "Mexican Star," is golden-green above and white below, with shining lilac-red throat; it has purplish-black lateral rectrices tipped with white, of which the outer is filiform, as are the external four in _Acestrura_ of northern South America. _Selasphorus rufus_, of western North America, from Alaska to Mexico, is cinnamon above and white below, with golden-green crown and glittering red throat; the head-feathers are bordered with rufous, and the sub-median tail-feathers are emarginate. The female has chiefly green upper and white under parts. _S. platycercus_, resembling the next species, but with a rosy-red throat, occupies the Rocky Mountains and extends to Guatemala, the genus reaching Panama. They constantly have the outer primary or outer rectrix attenuated. _Trochilus colubris_, found at different seasons from the Fur Countries and the Great Plains to Guatemala, is green above and whitish below, the chin being black, the throat glittering ruby-red, and the forked tail chiefly bluish-black. The hen lacks the red colour. _T. alexandri_ of western North America differs in its violet-purple throat. _Calypte annae_ and _C. costae_ of the South-West United States are green birds with mainly whitish lower surface, and have the crown and throat rosy and lilac respectively. The latter form has elongated gular plumes, as has the bluer Cuban _C. helenae_, where they are crimson. The minute _Mellisuga minima_, or "Bee Humming-bird," of Jamaica and San Domingo is green above and white below, with dusky throat-spots in the male. The equally small _Chaetocercus bombus_ of Ecuador is green, with rosy throat, buff breast, and chiefly purplish-black rectrices, of which the outer four are short and spiny; the female is green above and cinnamon below.

_Thaumastura cora_, the "Peruvian Sheartail," is golden-green, with crimson throat shading into blue, and white under surface; the black and white tail has two enormously elongated sub-median feathers. The hen is white below, with buffish throat and flanks. _Prymnacantha popelairii_, one of another group of Thornbills (p. 437), has a yellowish-green crest with two long black filamentous plumes; the upper parts are bronzy-green with a white rump; the lower parts are black, with a glittering green {439}throat and rufous tibiae. The forked tail has the pointed narrow feathers steel-blue with white shafts. The hen has a dark green crown and black and white throat. This genus extends from Costa Rica to Bolivia and Brazil. _Lophornis_ covers the same area, but reaches Mexico. _L. ornatus_ has beautiful fawn-coloured tufts with green terminal spots, on the sides of the neck; and is chiefly bright green and cinnamon, with a rufous and purplish rump and a chestnut crest; the female exhibits more white below and lacks the crest and tufts. The remaining half score of species are similar or even more brilliant. _Heliactin cornuta_ of Brazil alone of the Family has resplendent purple, green, and gold tufts above and behind the eyes. The coloration is shining green, with a bluer crown, black cheeks and throat, and white lower parts. The hen is green above and white below, with buff throat.

* * * * *

Fam. XIII. COLIIDAE.–This group is the only constituent of the Sub-Order COLII or Colies, termed Mouse-birds in South Africa from their creeping habits. They were formerly classed among the Passerine Fringillidae, to which they bear a certain outward resemblance, while at a later date a partial study of the anatomy seemed to point to an affinity with the Plantain-eaters; but it is now generally recognised that they should be placed among those Families which in this work form the Order Coraciiformes. They are small, tough-skinned birds, which would appear larger were it not for the short, dense feathering; the bill is stout and Finch-like, the long metatarsus exhibits one series of scutes in front, and reticulations behind; the toes with their slender claws are all directed forwards, but the hallux and apparently the outer toe can be turned backwards. The wings are weak and rounded, with ten primaries and nine secondaries; the very long tail has ten rectrices, the outer pair not being greatly developed. The furcula is U-shaped; the syrinx has one pair of tracheo-bronchial muscles; the tongue is flat and cartilaginous with horny papillae; an after-shaft is present; the adults, and probably the nestlings, have no down.

Colies frequent forest-districts, especially where the bush is thick; they are active, yet not very shy, and are usually found, except during the breeding season, in flocks of some six to eight individuals. The flight is laboured, with many a quick beat of the wings; but it is direct and fairly rapid, though seldom sustained beyond some neighbouring tree, where the bird may be seen stealing {440}through the foliage, and aiding its creeping movements with its bill. The most peculiar habit, however, is that of climbing with the whole metatarsus applied to the branch, a fact which adds greatly to the mouse-like appearance. When roosting, Colies are said to pack themselves together in masses, and to hang by the feet; rarely are they seen perching or hopping, though they often cling to the boughs with the head downwards. The note is disagreeable and harsh. The cup-shaped nest of twigs, roots, and grass, with a lining of wool or finer grasses, is placed in thick bushes, or near the ground in low trees; the three or four eggs, hardly pointed at either end, are dull white, sometimes streaked with orange or brown. Fresh leaves are not uncommonly added below them. The food consists almost entirely of fruit, though green shoots, or even insects, are believed to be occasionally eaten.

The eight or nine species of the single genus _Colius_, ranging through the whole Ethiopian region except Madagascar, vary in coloration from brown with darker vermiculations or bars to {441}grey or ash-colour, the abdomen being buff. Fine crests add to the general appearance. _C. macrurus_ is remarkable for a tuft of blue feathers on each side of the nape; _C. leucocephalus_ has a white head; _C. leucotis_ white ear-coverts; _C. nigricollis_ a black forehead and throat; _C. capensis_ two stripes of black on the back enclosing one of white; while that species and _C. castanonotus_ have maroon rumps. The bare skin surrounding the eye is scarlet in _C. erythromelon_, _C. macrurus_, and _C. capensis_, and apparently bluish-grey elsewhere. The legs are red in life, fading to buff after death. _C. striatus_ is very nearly uniform brown, _C. erythromelon_ shews a greenish tinge and has some buff on the head. The sexes are similar, nor are the young very different. The length is from eleven to fourteen inches. Kafirs consider these birds very good eating.

Fam. XIV. TROGONIDAE.–The Trogons are the sole tenants of the Sub-Order TROGONES, a very distinct group of birds of brilliant coloration–the Quezal, as will be seen below, being the most splendid of all. Their general aspect is somewhat heavy; the neck is abbreviated; the bill, stoutest in _Pharomacrus_ and most slender in _Euptilotis_, is short and strong, with a wide bristly gape, and a curved culmen terminating in a hook. The maxilla in these genera, as well as in _Harpactes_ and _Hapalarpactes_, has a terminal notch, while both mandibles are more or less serrated in adults of _Trogon_, _Hapaloderma_, _Tmetotrogon_, and _Prionotelus_. The foot is comparatively small and weak, with the short metatarsus feathered and somewhat scaly; the second toe is reversed, a heterodactylous arrangement (p. 10) unique among birds. The moderate wing has ten primaries, and from eight to ten secondaries; the upper wing-coverts being elongated in _Pharomacrus_, especially in the males. The long rectrices are twelve in number, and are concave at the end with divergent tips in _Prionotelus_; the feathers, moreover, are often square at the extremity–a noticeable peculiarity in the Family; while in the Quezal, _Pharomacrus mocinno_, the male has enormously developed upper coverts to the tail, which extend far beyond it, the two median being the longest; in its congeners and in females generally they equal the rectrices; in _Euptilotis_ they are only half the length. The furcula is U-shaped; the tongue flat; the syrinx tracheo-bronchial; the aftershaft long; the nostrils are bristly; the adults have no down; and the nestlings are said to be naked for a short period. The large soft {442}feathers are easily detached from the delicate skin. The male of _Pharomacrus mocinno_ has a fine rounded crest, less developed in the female and in its other congeners. _Euptilotis_, _Tmetotrogon_, and _Prionotelus_ have the ear-coverts filamentous and hair-like. _Pharomacrus pavoninus_ has a red bill, as has _Prionotelus_ in part; the usual colour in the former genus, and in _Trogon_ and its allies, being yellow for the cock and more horn-coloured or black for the hen, but in _Harpactes_ violet or bluish, with a duller tip in the female. The orbits are partially or entirely bare in _Hapaloderma_, _Harpactes_, and _Hapalarpactes_, the skin being, it would seem, yellow, violet, or blue. The Family ranges through the tropical portions of the Indian, Ethiopian, and Neotropical Regions, _Harpactes_ and _Hapalarpactes_ being found in the first, _Hapaloderma_ in the second, and the other five genera in the third. _Trogon ambiguus_ reaches northwards to Arizona and Texas. The number of species is nearly fifty, of which the largest (_Pharomacrus mocinno_) measures some fourteen inches, the smallest (_Harpactes duvauceli_) about nine.