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calliper-like form one might suppose would assist, in combination with the ere hind toe claw, in
supporting the bird on the sides of rocks ; and we find that this is really the aoe for . a ae =
that he has seen several of the Oreotrochilus Pichincha clinging, half-benumbed ro cold, on a ledge o nes ks
during one of the frequent snow-storms which occur on Pichincha. Pe would pronounce this to
be tite scansorial type among Humming-Birds. Now I think we may fairly infer that many of the ove
structures above alluded to are equally adapted for some peculiar purpose ; yet there must We SaCe ue
to this hypothesis, since the structure of the caudal feathers is in many instances totally different in the

two sexes of the saine species.

Nothing has yet been said respecting the legs and feet. Diminutive as they are, they will be fennd to
be very diversified. In some instances the tarsi are bare, in others they are thickly clothed, as in Phe
Eriocnemides ; in some the toes are very diminutive, and are furnished with equally small, rounded nails ;
in others all the toes, particularly the hinder one, are greatly developed and armed with long, curved, and
extremely sharp, spine-like claws. This latter form is admirably adapted for clinging to the petals of flowers,
a habit common to many members of the family, which not only settle upon, but thrust their spiny bills
through the bell-shaped flowers. ‘The power these little birds possess of clinging to the branches is very
remarkable ; they hang on with their little feet and hooked claws like bats, with such pertinacity that I was

often fearful of dislocating the legs of my living birds when attempting to remove them from their perch.

. = . nee y, . 5 y «

I may mention here, although somewhat out of place, that the skins of Pterophanes Temmincki have a
strong musky smell, very similar to that exhaled by the Petrels. I consider this merely a coincidence; for
although Iam aware that many species of Humming-Birds fly close to the surface of the water, they are

merely hawking for insects among the aquatic plants peculiar to such situations.

It is the great diversity of forms in this family of birds which renders the study of them so very
interesting. If these little objects were magnified to the size of Kagles, their structural differences would
stand out in very bold relief, and the many marked generic distinctions they present would be far more

clearly perceptible.

The preceding remarks have reference to such points of structure as may be considered to have an

influence on the well-being of the birds. I shall now say a few words on those parts of the plumage which

apparently are given for the purpose of ornament only :—the crests of Cephalepis and Orthorhynchus ; the

beards of Ramphomicron and Oxzypogon ; the ear-tufts of P tasophora and Heliothrix ; the e

legant appendages
to the neck of the Lophornithes ;

the singular plume-like under tail-coverts of Chalybura, which in their
structure and snowy whiteness strongly remind one of the corresponding feathers of the Marabou

Stork, &c.

The members of most of the genera have certain parts of their plumage fantastically decorated ; and in

many instances most resplendent in colour. My own opinion is

, that this gorgeous colouring of the

mere purpose of ornament, and for no other purpose of special
adaptation in their mode of life—in other words,

Humming-Birds has been given for the

that ornament and beauty merely as such was the end
sroposed—especially when we re thi > re of i i
proj pecially e remember that the plumage of Humming-Birds seems to follow a general rule

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