SY a ST

 

IN DROD UCTION.

i 1 s These ranoes are the sources of numerous rivers, some
lower elevations situated more to the eastward. ‘These ranges @

course, such as the Atrato, Cauca, and the great Magdalena, which debouch

hich have a northerl
ee If into the Lake of Maracaybo. Some of

into the Caribbean Sea, and the river Zulia, which empties tse el
discovered were collected near the town of Pamplona, which is situated on the

the very finest species yet oe
er. The country round Antioquia, situated on the lower, and Popayan on

banks of the last-mentioned riv pa
the upper part of the Cauca, appear also to be very rich in natural productions, and particularly so in

. : i : n the luxuriantly-clad sides
Humming-Birds. It is, however, on the paramos which surround Bogota, and o y

of the valleys through which flows the main stream of the Magdalena, that the greatest number of species
have been discovered. Bogota, the capital of this district, has for a long time been the Seale vere
collections have been transmitted to Europe and the United States. The Indians have been initiated into
the modes of preparing these lovely objects ; and as gain and excitement have thus gone hand in hand, this
part of America may be said to have been thoroughly ransacked, and I expect that but few novelties remain
to be discovered therein. Now as most of the productions that have yet reached us from Antioquia and
Pamplona, two districts lying in about the same parallel of latitude on either side the great valley of the
Magdalena, are quite distinct and different from those of Bogota, we may safely infer that, if they were as
closely searched, many new species would be found. The country of the Caraccas and Cumana have
Humming-Birds which partake less of the characters of the mountain species, and assimilate more closely
to those of the Guianas and Northern Brazil. It will be seen, I think, from what I have here said, that
the species of Humming-Birds increase in numbers as we proceed towards the equator; that most of them
are confined to countries having peculiar physical characters; and that those of New Granada differ consi-
derably from the Humming-Birds of Veragua, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. I have observed an equally
marked difference in the species which inhabit the high lands giving rise to the rivers which run eastward ;

I mean the many tributaries of the Napo, the Caqueta or Japura, and the Amazon.

From the eastern side of Chimborazo flow many streams which ultimately find their way into the Amazon ;
and however numerous the species found in the elevated districts of New Granada may be, I believe that
when the dense and luxuriant forests bordering these well-watered lands are fully investigated, the species
inhabiting them will be found far to exceed in number those of every other district. Even the snowy
Chimborazo may be said to be inhabited by Humming-birds : certain it is that the Oreotrochilus Chimborazo
lives upon it just below the line of perpetual congelation, some of my specimens of this bird killed by
M. Bourcier bearing on the attached labels an elevation of 16,000 feet ; and Mr. Fraser, I believe, killed
others in an equally elevated region. Here, then, is a bird which encounters the cold blasts of these lofty
situations with impunity, dwelling in a world of almost perpetual sleet, hail, and rain, and the

re feeding upon
the insects which resort to the Chuquiraga mnsiynis and other flowering pl

ants peculiar to the situation.

These trul i irds have always ¢ rat chi i ; ies ] j 1 i
ae r y a birds have always a great charm with me; and as the species just mentioned is especially
yeautiful, it is of course a great favourite. Besides Chimborazo, there exist many other cones of but little

less elevation, such as Pichincha, Cotopaxi, and Cayambe, which, Strange to say, are reported to be

frequented by species peculiar to each; and if this be the c

reveal forms at present unknown to us? Now what I h
Humming

ase, how many summits as yet untrodden may

aa. ave said with regard to the gradual increase of
-Bird life from the north to the equator may be equally said of their incre
line from the south. The species there found, although
precisely the same functions, a

ase towards the same

quite different from those of the north, perform
re subject to the same migratory movements, &c.

 

    
  
    
    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    
 
   
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
   
  
  
   
     

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