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INTRODUCTION.

aves the island, or retires to the interior, I am not at present prepared to

with at certain seasons; but whether it le ; mn , ,
ines and evenings are its principal times for feeding, and
5

It is seldom to be found in open sunshine: the morn
; ; :
‘ts evolutions then are truly pleasing,—at one instant suspended immov

top of our tallest bamboo, guava, or other tree, and at the next

showing the purest white and green), at the very
zigzags right and left, up and down, dipping either into the river or snapping
5 5

I think it probable that this bird feeds more upon winged insects

arly in the calm mornings, retiring generally into

ee able to the eye (although alternately

moment at the root, with two or three
a fly from the surface, and then disappearing.
than most of the others, which may account for its being seen so e au
the thick wild plantain bushes as soon as the sun begins to spread his rays upon them, and appearing again in the
ays cease to act upon their spot of pleasure. A female shot on the

by Sir W. Jardine, Bt., in Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist.

evening when he is going down, or when his r
19th of April contained an egg almost perfect.’’—Hore Zoologica,
vol. xx. p. 373.

Vol. II. Pl. 115,

133. FLorRIsUGA ATRA .
Lampornis niger, Jard. Nat. Lib. Humming-Birds, vol. ii. p. 156.

Florisuga fusca, Reichenb. Aufz. der Col. p. 14; Id. Troch. Enum. p. 12; Cab. et Hein. Mus. Hein. Theil iii. p. 29.

Habitat. Eastern Brazil.

That all the Humming-Birds are not yet discovered we may very reasonably conjécture, and we may ask what

will be our next novelty in this group of birds. This remark has suggested itself upon finding next in succession

the singular little Michrochera albocoronata. Although America has been discovered for more than 300 years, and

collectors have been employed for the last fifty in searching for its treasures of various kinds, we had no knowledge

of the existence of this bird until 1852, when Dr. J. K. Merritt shot three examples in the district of Belen in New

Granada.
Genus Microcuera, Gould.

(jukpos, parvus, et X1P&, vidua. )
Generic characters.
Male.—Bill about the same length as the head, and straight ; wings moderate ; tail rather short and square ;

tarsi clothed ; feet small; claws diminutive.

134. MicrocHERA ALBOCORONATA, Gould . ; : ‘ i ; ; : : : Vol. II. Pl. 116.

Habitat. The district of Belen in New Granada.

A considerable hiatus here occurs, which cannot at present be filled up, and we come to the elegant frill-necked
Coquettes, the Lophornithes; and with these 1 commence the third volume.

They are among the most beautiful of the smaller members of the Trochilide, and are distinguished by the
possession of lengthened ornamental plumes springing from the sides of the neck, which generally have a spangle of
metallic lustre at the tip; they are further ornamented with beautiful lengthened crests, which are developed to a
greater extent in some species than in others; in those in which the neck-plumes are the longest, the crests are
least so, and vice versd. They are spread over a great part of America, from Mexico along the Andes to Bolivia;

they also occur in Brazil, the Guianas, and the Island of Trinidad.

Genus Lopnornis, Less.

135. LopHoRNIS ORNATUS . . . . ’ ° e . O Pl. ll .
. . . . . V l. I I Ie /

Mr. W. Tucker informs me that in Trinidad this species ‘‘ frequents the pastures and open places, and ata
S, ‘

the flowers of all the small shrubs, but is particularly fond of those of the Ipecacuanha plant, and that it is very

; ; : ; ’
pugnacious, erecting its crest, throwing out its whiskers, and attacking every Humming
: TO 5

a Bird that may pass within
its range of vision.

136. LorpHornis Goutpt
Habitat. Northern Brazil.

< ‘ ‘ : Vol. TIL, PE is: