So

iene

a

 

 

END OD We TION.

XXXIV

va ss s : f | W o e t i

vs, Heliomaster longirostris, Chlorostilbon Osberti (an small number), Cyanomyia
’ 7

September the localities of the

females), Campylopterus 7u

:
ceyanocephala, and Trochilus Colubris.

«On the hillside to the south-westward of the lake are great numbers of Campylopterus rufus, and among

‘
ay ¥ . cur eregate. About the Convolvulus-trees
the willows close to the water the males of Zhaumastura henicura congregat

: ‘enes fuluens siha Deville, Thaumastura henicura
in the llano at the foot of the volcano are found Eugenes fulgens, Amazilia Deville,

y 5 i 1 ZS or),
(in small numbers), Zrochilus Colubris (very commonly towar ds the end of Septembe )

‘Entering the first barranco that opens out into the plain, we meet with CTE ks Myabeillia
tyica, Heliopedica melanotis; and a little higher up, Petasophora thalassina aad Delattria wea Of
course, occasionally a species is found not in its place as here indicated ; for instance, I have seen fe ne
first locality a single specimen (the only female I have met with) of Eugenes fulgens, and maps high in
the volcano. I have also seen a single Petasophora thalassina out on the Ilano. These localities must
therefore be taken as only generally indicating the distribution of the species found about Duenas.”—Jéis,

vol. il. p. 263.

At the moment of printing these pages, I have received a very interesting letter from my friend the
Hon. G. W. Allen, of Moss Park, Toronto, in which the following passage occurs respecting the Zrochdlus

Colubris :—

“T wish you could have been with us last summer, you would have had an opportunity of watching your
favourite Humming-Birds to your heart’s content. I do not in the least exaggerate when I say that, during
the time the horse-chestnuts were in flower, there were hundreds of these little tiny creatures about my
grounds. While sitting in my library I could hear their little, sharp, querulous note, as the males fought
like so many little bantam-cocks with each other. On one large horse-chestnut tree, just at the corner of the
house, they swarmed about the foliage like so many bees ; and as the top branches of the tree were close
to my bed-room windows, every now and then one bird more bold than the rest would dart into the open

window, and perch upon the wardrobe or the top of the bed-post.”

It will be expected that, in a monograph of a group of birds which have attracted so much notice, some

account should be given of their internal structure ; and as our well-known bird-anatomist, T. C. Eyton, Esq.,

has paid much attention to the subject, and given a very clear description of the anatomy of the largest
species of the family (the Patagona gigas) in Mr. Darwin’s ‘ Zoology of the Voyage of H.MLS. Beagle,’ I
have much pleasure in transferring it to my pages :—

“Tongue bifid, each division pointed; hyoids very lon
ies ; :
Picidae (Woodpeckers) ; trachea of uniform diameter

cesophagus funnel-shaped, slightly contr

g, in their position resembling those in the
, destitute of muscles of voice; bronchia very long ;
acted on approaching the proventriculus, w

hich is small and scarcely
gizzard small, moderately muscular, the inner coat slightly

hardened, and filled with the remains

q ° . ‘
I could not perceive a vestige of ceca. Length of the ceso-
yhagus, including the proventric aa i ; a
phagus, g I ulus, 12, inch of the intestinal canal 3:; length of the gizard +, breadth 1.

perceptible ;

of insects ; intestine largest near the gizzard ;

**Sternum with the k ‘er : ae Bas .
e keel very deep, its edge rounded and projecting anteriorly ; posterior margin rounded,

 

       
      
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   
  
 
 
   
   
  
  
  
   
    
    
  
  

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