do not; and there is no reason to suppose that goatsuckers are so awkward as to require to keep their jaws constantly wide open lest their prey should escape them. But the most absurd notion of all is that expressed by Mr. Selby as follows: "The membrane that lines the inside of the mouth is very thin and transparent. particularly opposite to the posterior part of the eye, which organ is pretty clearly discernible through the membrane. As the mouth opens to such great lateral extent, it has been suggested that the bird may possibly be capable of turning the eye in its socket, so far as to look through this almost transparent veil in a straightforward direction, when the mouth is extended in its nocturnal flights. I have consequently directed my attention to this point, but as yet without any satisfactory result." Indeed, it was unworthy of exercising the observation of so sagacious an ornithologist. How desperately imaginative must those persons be, who, not content with allowing a bird to seize its prey like other birds, by opening its bill when it comes up to it, must represent it as flying about with its mouth wide open, and instead of using its eyes as all other birds use them, turning them round, to the imminent danger of separating the optic nerve, so as to spy moths and beetles through a window in the palate! NOTE D.-Popular errors regarding the torpidity of Swallows. It has long been, and continues to be, a popular opinion in this country, and in other parts of Europe, that swallows of a certain species pass the winter at the bottoms of deep lakes and wells. The analogy between birds of passage, and animals which remain in a state of torpidity during the winter, is most inaccurately drawn by Goldsmith; and we offer the following objections to the supposed constitutional | connexion. feet in thickness, and found that the fluid in the instrument remained stationary all the time. Dr. Withering made a similar experiment on a well eighty-four feet deep, and found that it remained at 49° for the entire year. Surely, then, this invariable temperature is inconsistent with the theory of birds remaining in a state of torpidity in deep lakes, or solitary caverns, where the sun has no influence; for what would call forth their dormant organs into action, the sun having no influence in places so situate? It is but reasonable to conclude, that the cold, which kept them benumbed by its soporific influence, would perpetuate their slumber. The state of torpor to which hybernating animals are annually subjected, is obviously analogous to sleep, but it differs from sleep in being occasioned solely by temperature. Hybernating animals always assume this torpid condition, whenever the thermometer sinks to a certain point. Man, and almost all animals, seem to be susceptible of this state, at least to a certain extent; for the apparent death produced by cold is probably nothing else but a species of torpor, out of which the animal. in most cases, might be roused if the requisite precautions in applying heat were attended to; for death, in most cases, seems to be produced, not by the cold, but by the incautious and sudden application of heat, which bursts the blood-vessels in some particular part of the body, before the heat has had the power of stimulating the heart, and setting the blood in motion through the whole animal frame; and this bursting of the blood-vessels destroys the texture of the body. It is well known that if any part of the body be frost-bitten, an incautious application of heat infallibly produces mortification, and destroys the part. In the 28th volume of the Philosophical Transactions,' there is a remarkable example recorded of a woman, almost naked, lying buried for six days under the snow, and yet recovering. In this case it is scarcely possible to avoid supposing that the woman must have been in a state of torpor, otherwise she would have endeavoured to find her way home. That a few stragglers of the swallow tribe do remain in this country long after their fellows have departed, there can be no doubt; and even some have been known to sojourn during the whole winter: but, it is equally true that the uniform habit of these birds is to quit the north on the approach of winter, and to seek climates more congenial to their mode of existence, which is entirely maintained by insect food. Those quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, and insects, which pass the winter in a state of insensibility, may be recalled to sensation and action at pleasure, by the application of a gentle degree of heat. Naturalists have been induced, from this constitutional singularity of these animals, to conclude, that the return of spring rouses them from their lethargic state to enjoy the pleasures of sensation and locomotion. The animals in question take up their abodes a little below the surface of the soil, some in the crevices of walls, or interstices of rocks; while others, such as frogs, toads, and water-newts, bury themselves in the mud of shallow ponds. In the first of these retreats, they The Rev. Gilbert White, in his interesting Natuare only covered by a thin layer of earth and moss, ral History of Selborne,' remarks, "I cannot agree or leaves; and in the last, by the addition of a shal-with those persons who assert that the swallow kind low sheet of water; consequently they are reani- disappear some and some, gradually, as they come, mated in due season, by the genial rays of the sun, for the bulk of them seem to withdraw at once; after he has entered the northern half of the ecliptic. only some stragglers stay behind a long while, and The temperature of places, situate at great depths do never, there is the greatest reason to believe, below the surface of the land and water, is a suffi- leave this island. Swallows seem to lay themselves cient objection to the assertion that birds remain in a up, and to come forth in a warm day, after they have torpid state, during the winter, in deep and solitary disappeared for weeks. For a very respectable gencaverns, or at the bottom of deep lakes. Dr. Hale tleman assured me, that as he was walking with has proved, by experimental facts, that the bulb of a some friends under Merton-wall, on a remarkably hot thermometer, buried sixteen inches below the earth's noon, either in the last week of December or the first surface, stood at 25° of his scale in September, at week in January, he espied three or four swallows 16° in October, and at 10° in November, during a huddled together on the moulding of one of the winsevere frost; from which point it ascended again slow-dows of that college. I have frequently remarked ly, and reached 23° in the beginning of April. Now the end of September and beginning of October is the season when the hedgehog, shrew, bat, toad, and frog, disappear; and, about the middle of April, these animals re-appear: this agrees very well with the variations of temperature of the preceding theory. It is a well-established fact, that all places situate eighty feet below the surface of the earth are constantly of the same temperature. Mr. Boyle kept a thermometer for a year under a roof of earth, eighty that swallows are seen later at Oxford than elsewhere. Is it owing to the vast massy buildings of that place, to the many waters round it, or to what else?" He also mentions that a friend of his saw a marten on the 26th November, in a sheltered bottom; the sun shone warm, and the bird was hawking briskly after flies. Mr. Sweet mentions the circumstance of a house swallow having taken up its redence, late in the autumn, within St. Mary's church at Warwick; it was regularly observed there by the congregation until Christmas-eve; after which, it its wings, are of a greenish brown, with a fine disappeared and was seen no more. CHAP. VI. THE HUMMING-BIRD, AND ITS VARIETIES. red cast, or gloss, which no silk or velvet can imitate. It has a small crest on its head, green at the bottom, and, as it were, gilded at the top; and which sparkles in the sun like a little star in the middle of its forehead. The bill is black, straight, slender, and of the length of a small pin. The larger humming-bird is near half as big as the common wren, and without a crest on its head; but, to make amends, it is covered, from the throat half way down the belly, with changeable crimson-coloured feathers, that, in different lights, change to a variety of beautiful colours, much like an opal. The heads of both are small, with very little round eyes, as black as jet. HAVING given some history of the manners of the most remarkable birds of which accounts can be obtained, I might now go to a very extensive tribe, remarkable for the splendour and the variety of their plumage: but the description of the colours of a beautiful bird has nothing in it that can inform or entertain; it rather excites a longing, which it is impossible It is inconceivable how much these add to the for words to satisfy. Naturalists, indeed, have high finishing and beauty of a rich luxurious endeavoured to satisfy this desire by coloured landscape. As soon as the sun is risen, the humprints; but, beside that these at best give only ming-birds, of different kinds, are seen fluttera faint resemblance of nature, and are a very in- ing about the flowers, without ever lighting upon different kind of painting, the bird itself has a them. Their wings are in such rapid motion, thousand beauties that the most exquisite artist that it is impossible to discern their colours, exis incapable of imitating. They, for instance, cept by their glittering. They are never still, who imagine they have a complete idea of the but continually in motion, visiting flower after beauty of the little tribe of manikin birds, from flower, and extracting its honey as if with a kiss. the pictures we have of them, will find them- For this purpose they are furnished with a forky selves deceived when they compare their draughts tongue, that enters the cup of the flower, and with nature. The shining greens, the change-extracts its nectared tribute. Upon this alone able purples, and the glossy reds, are beyond the they subsist. The rapid motion of their wings reach of the pencil; and very far beyond the coloured print, which is but a poor substitute to painting. I have therefore declined entering into a minute description of foreign birds of the sparrow kind; as sounds would never convey an adequate idea of colours. There is one species, however, that I will conclude the history of this class with; as, though the least, it will certainly be allowed the most beautiful of all others. In quadrupeds, the smallest animals are noxious, ugly, and loathsome; the smallest of birds are the most beautiful, innocent, and sportive. Of all those that flutter in the garden, or paint the landscape, the humming-bird is the most delightful to look upon, and the most inoffensive. 1 "From the circumstance of numming-birds frequenting flowers, and thrusting their needle-formed bills into the blossoms, as bees and butterflies do their suckers (haustella), it has hastily been concluded by naturalists, that, like these insects, they feed on honey. But if such naturalists had paused for a moment to consider the form of the bill and the tongue in the trochilidae, their conclusions would not perhaps have been so hasty. The trophi of insects which feed on the honey of flowers, are beautifully adapted for procuring it by suction, which is commonly indispensable, the honey being in most cases spread thinly over the surface of the nectary or the ungula of the petals, and not in quantities such as it might be drunk like water. Now it is a fact, which is or may be well known, that birds have almost no power of suction, in consequence of the narrowness and rigidity of their tongue, as may be seen Of this charming little animal there are six or when they drink, having to hold up their heads and depend upon the weight of the water for transmitting it seven varieties, from the size of a small wren into the craw. Nobody, as far as we know, has dedown to that of an humble-bee. A European scribed the humming-bird drinking the honey from could never have supposed a bird existing so flowers in this manner, and indeed its tenacity and gluvery small, and yet completely furnished out tinous rature would entirely preclude this. reasons would dispose us, therefore, to conclude, that with a bill, feathers, wings, and intestines, exthe trochilidæ do not feed on honey, though we did actly resembling those of the largest kind. A not possess irresistible proof of the fact that they feed bird not so big as the end of one's little finger on insects. Wilson, the distinguished author of the would probably be supposed but a creature of American Ornithology,' found, upon repeated disimagination, were it not seen in infinite num-insects in its stomach, either whole or in fragments; section, that the Trochilus colubris had a quantity of bers, and as frequent as butterflies in a summer's and the eccentric Waterton affirms that hummingday, sporting in the fields of America, from birds feed on insects. Of course, they frequent flower to flower, and extracting their sweets with flowers not for their honey, but to prey upon the inits little bill. sects which are in pursuit of this honey. Were the requisite scrutiny gone into, it is probable that we should find all Latham's Flower-eaters' (anthophagi) and Temminck's Nectarinia' exclusively feeding on insects."-J. Rennie. The smallest humming-bird is about the size of a hazel-nut. The feathers on its wings and tail are black; but those on its body, and under L Such brings out a humming sound, from whence they have their name; for whatever divides the air swiftly, must thus produce a murmur. The nests of these birds are not less curious than the rest; they are suspended in the air, at the point of the twigs of an orange, a pomegranate, or a citron tree; sometimes even in houses, if they find a small and convenient twig for the purpose. The female is the architect, while the male goes in quest of materials; such as cotton, fine moss, and the fibres of vegetables. Of these materials a nest is composed, of about the size of a hen's egg cut in two, admirably contrived, and warmly lined with cotton. They lay two eggs at a time, and never more, about the size of small peas, and as white as snow, with here and there a yellow speck. The male and the female sit upon the nest by turns; but the female takes to herself the greatest share. She seldom quits the nest, except a few minutes in the morning and evening when the dew is upon the flowers, and their honey in perfection. During this short interval, the male takes her place; for, as the egg is so small, the exposing it ever so short a time to the weather would be apt to injure its contents, the surface exposed being so great in comparison of the bulk. The time of incubation continues twelve days; at the end of which the young ones appear, much about the size of a blue-bottle fly. They are at first bare; by degrees they are covered with down; and at last feathers succeed, but less beautiful at first than those of the old ones. "Father Labat's companion in the mission to America, found the nest of a humming-bird in a shed that was near the dwelling-house, and took it in at a time when the young ones were about fifteen or twenty days old; he then placed them in a cage at his chamber-window, to be amused by their sportive flutterings; but he was soon surprised to see the old ones, that came and fed their brood regularly every hour in the day. By these means they themselves soon grew so tame that they seldom quitted the chamber; but without any constraint came to live with their young ones. All four have frequently come to perch upon their master's hand, chirruping as if they had been at liberty abroad. He fed them with a very fine clear paste, made of wine, biscuit, and sugar; they thrust their tongues into this paste till they were satisfied, and then fluttered and chirruped about the room. I never beheld anything more agreeable," continues he, "than this lovely little family that had taken possession of my companion's chamber, and that flew out and in just as they thought proper; but were ever attentive to the voice of their master, when he called them. In this manner they lived with him for above six months; but at a time when he expected to see a new colony formed, he unfortunately forgot to tie up their cage to the ceiling at night to preserve them from the rats, and he found they were devoured in the morning." | These birds on the continent of America continue to flutter the year round; as their food, which is the honey of flowers,2 never forsakes them in those warm latitudes where they are found. But it is otherwise in the islands of the Antilles, where, when the winter season approaches, they retire, and, as some say, continue in a torpid state during the severity of that season. At Surinam and Jamaica, where they constantly have flowers, these beautiful birds are never known to disappear. It is a doubt whether or not these birds have a continued note of singing. All travellers agree that, beside the humming noise produced by their wings, they have a little interrupted chirrup; but Labat asserts, that they have a most pleasing melancholy melody in their voices, though small, and proportioned to the organs which produce it. It is very probable that, in different places, their notes are also different; and as there are some that continue torpid all the winter, there may likewise be some with agreeable voices, though the rest may in general be silent. The Indians formerly made great use of this bird's plumage, in adorning their belts and headdress. The children take them in the fields upon rings smeared with birdlime; they approach the place where the birds are flying, and twirling their rings in the air, to allure them, either by the colour or the sound, that the simple little creature comes to rest upon the ring, and is seized. They are then instantly killed and gutted, and hung up in the chimney to dry. Those who take greater care, dry them in a stove, which is not so likely to injure the plumage as the foregoing method. Their beautiful feathers were once the ornament of the highest rank of savage nobility; but at present they take the bird rather for the purpose of selling it as a curiosity to the Europeans, than that of ornament for themselves. All the taste for savage finery is wearing out fast, even among the Americans. They now begin to adopt, if not the dresses of Europe, at least the materials of which they are composed. The wandering warrior is far from thinking himself fine at present with his bow and his feathered crown: his ambition reaches to higher ornaments; a gun, a blue shirt, and a blanket. 2 This is a mistake. See note preceding page, and Supplementary note below.—ED. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTE. est, but, at the same time, some of the most beautiThe genus Trochilus comprises some of the smallful of the feathered tribe. Observers of every description have been struck with admiration at the elegance and variety of the tints which adorn them; but the extreme delicacy of their constitution generally unfits them for enduring the variable climates of the temperate zone, or the restraints of confinement. They have almost always died on the passage homewards; and their admirers, in this country, are compelled to view only the preserved specimens in their cabinets, or such representations as we now offer. Those persons who have not seen them, numerous as butterflies, sporting in the sunny prairies of America, would hesitate at first to believe that birds of so minute a construction could exist. Yet we find the same perfection in the smallest as well as in the largest of Nature's works, and a structure prevails in these minute objects equally complicated with those of the ostrich and eagle. It was long supposed, as they resemble the butterfly in fluttering from flower to flower, that they also partook of the same food, and subsisted on honey. It seems now to be clearly ascertained that they do not feed on honey, but on the insects which prey upon it. This might have readily been discovered upon comparing the structure of their bills, which are long, pointed, and altogether incapable of sucking up a fluid, or saccharine matter, with the haustellum or sucker, used by certain insects for that purpose. During their flight, they sometimes keep their bodies motionless in the air for hours together, emitting a loud humming noise, from which they derive their name. This sound is not emitted by the birds, but is occasioned solely by the exceedingly rapid vibration of their wings. They are generally confined to the tropical climates of America, although they have been found as far south as the Straits of Magellan, and as far north as the Elk river. They frequent the woods as well as prairies; and are often observed to enter the houses of the Americans in pursuit of insects, sometimes venturing to insert their delicate bills into a bouquet of flowers, and rapidly retreating on being approached. We shall here enumerate and describe a few of the species of this beautiful bird. The Tufted-necked humming-bird (Trochilus ornatus) derives its name from the singular tuft of feathers which surrounds the neck of the male, but of which the female is altogether deprived. The Azure-blue humming-bird (T. lazulus) is distinguished by the brilliant hue of its breast. The Harlequin humming-bird (T. multicolor) is so singular and fantastic in its colours, that the specimen in the British museum was long suspected to have been formed of feathers belonging to different species. This is now generally believed not to have been the case. The Ruby-crested humming-bird (T. moschitus) is very common in the West Indies and in tropical America. Gould's humming-bird (T. Gouldii) possesses one of those singular tufts round the neck, which the French term coquets, and have been not unaptly compared to the ruffs worn by ladies during the age of Queen Elizabeth. The Gigantic humming-bird (T. gigas) is about the by none. The White-striped humming-bird (T. mesoleucus) differs but slightly from the Evening humming-bird (T. vesper). Both these species have but a rudi. mentary tuft around the neck, which however is of a brilliant hue. The Tri-coloured humming-bird (T. tricolor) appears to be surpassed in beauty by few of its tribe. Rivoli's humming - bird (T. Rivolii) is a native of Mexico, and the specimen from which this draw ing was made is in the collection of the Duke of Rivoli, who possesses one of the finest private cabinets of birds in Europe. Nothing can exceed the splendid display of colours exhibited by its head and throat, the beryl and ruby vying with each other in splendour; and these are beautifully set off by the strong black which surrounds the more bril. liant hues. The Violet-crowned humming-bird (T. Stephaniodes) inhabits Chili, and according to Lesson, sips the nectar of the scarlet Loranthus. It will probably be found hereafter, that this bird feeds upon the insects which prey upon the nectar, rather than upon the nectar itself. It penetrates to the North during winter. Stokes' humming-bird (T. Stokesii) is surpassed by few humming-birds in beauty and elegance of form. The tuft of bright cobalt blue which decorates its crown, adds great beauty to the bird. It was discovered by Captain King on the island of Juan Fernandez. The Northern humming-bird (T. colubris) is the humming-bird of the United States of America, and along with others lately described by Mr. Audubon, are the only species of this numerous tribe which migrate so far north. This species arrives in Louisiana about the 10th of March, but is seldom found in the middle districts before the 15th of April. A person standing in a garden by the side of a common Althea in bloom, will be surprised to hear the humming of their wings, and then see the birds themselves within a few feet of him; he will be astonished at the rapidity with which the little creatures rise into the air, and are out of sight and hearing the next moment. When morning dawns, and the blest sun again Lifts his red glories from the eastern main, Then through our woodbines, wet with glittering dews, The flower-fed Humming-bird his rounds pursues; Sips, with inserted tube, the honey'd blooms, And chirps his gratitude, as round he roams: While richest roses, though in crimson drest, Shrink from the splendour of his gorgeous breast. What heavenly tints in mingling radiance fly! Each rapid movement gives a different dye;" Like scales of burnish'd gold they dazzling show, Now sink to shade-now like a furnace glow! We are assured by Mr. Audubon, that this species at least principally lives upon insects, which it seeks out diligently in the nectarium of the flowers, where a great number of insects are always to be found, attracted by the honey. These it rapidly abstracts with its tongue. The Crested humming-bird (T. cristatus) is a native of the islands of Martinique and Trinité. Its breast is emerald green with iridescent blue reflections. The female is devoid of a crest. The Purple humming-bird (T. caligena) is a native of Mexico, where it was first discovered by M. F. Prévost. It ranks among the larger species; and although having no great variety of colours in its plumage, is, however, a very beautiful bird. Wagler's humming-bird (T. Wagleri) is distinguished by the remarkable form of the crest from all others of its tribe; and its elegantly graduated tail gives it a very handsome aspect. It is a native of the warmer part of Brazil. The Horned humming-bird (T. cornutus) is a native of the elevated Compos-Geraes of Brazil. The Half-tailed humming-bird (T. enicurus) is remarkable on account of having only six quill feathers in its tail. It inhabits Brazil. The Azure-crowned humming-bird (T. cyanocephalus), so named on account of the rich blue of the upper part of its head, is not remarkable for brilliancy of colour. It is a native of Brazil, but its peculiar history is unknown. The Blue-fronted humming-bird (T. glaucopis) is nearly four and a half inches long, with the top of the head indigo-blue changing to green, the back of a deep gold-green, the wings brown, and the tail steel-blue. It inhabits Brazil. Temminck's humming-bird (T. Temminckii), was first described by the celebrated ornithologist, to whom it has since been dedicated by M. Lesson, who states that it belongs to Brazil, that rich country which yields the diamond, and nourishes the most beautiful birds." The Sapphire and emerald humming-bird (T. bicolor) is nearly three and a half inches long, and distinguished by blue and emerald-green colours, and is said, by Buffon, to be a native of Guadaloupe; by Sonnini, to occur also in Martinique; and, by Lesson, to have been received from French Guiana. Clemence's humming-bird (T. Clemencia), about five inches in length, and of a bright green colour above, is a native of Mexico. The Topaz-throated humming-bird (T. pella), although the most common species, is one of the most splendidly coloured, being of a brilliant ruby tint, varying to dusky red, the head velvet black, the throat emerald green, changing to gold yellow. The male is distinguished, moreover, by two very long dusky feathers in the tail. This species is plentiful in Guiana, and the neighbourhood of Cayenne. The female wants the long tail-feathers, and is of a deep green colour, with the throat yellowish-red. The Violet-eared humming-bird (T. auritus) is so named on account of two tufts of feathers on the sides of the head, of which one is of a violet purple colour, while the other is emerald green. The upper parts are of a gilded green tint, the lower pure white. The middle tail-feathers are bluish-black, the rest white. It is one of the most common species of Guiana and Brazil. The female resembles the male, but differs in wanting the green and purple tufts on the auricular region, and in having the white of the breast and abdomen mixed with numerous brown or dusky spots. BOOK VII. OF BIRDS OF THE CRANE KIND. CHAP. I. OF BIRDS OF THE CRANE KIND IN GENERAL. THE progressions of Nature from one class of beings to another, are always by slow and almost imperceptible degrees. She has peopled the woods and the fields with a variety of the most beautiful birds; and, to leave no part of her extensive territories untenanted, she has stocked the waters with its feathered inhabitants also: she has taken the same care in providing for the wants of her animals in this element, as she has done with respect to those of the other; she has used as much precaution to render water-fowl fit for swimming, as she did in forming landfowl for flight; she has defended their feathers with a natural oil, and united their toes by a webbed membrane: by which contrivances they have at once security and motion. But between the classes of land-birds that shun the water, and of water-fowl that are made for swimming and living on it, she has formed a very numerous tribe of birds, that seem to partake of a middle nature; that, with divided toes, seemingly fitted to live upon land, are at the same time furnished with appetites that chiefly attach them to the waters. These can properly be called neither land-birds nor water-fowl, as they provide all their sustenance from watery places, and yet are unqualified to seek it in those depths where it is often found in greatest plenty. This class of birds, of the crane kind, are to be distinguished from others rather by their appetites than their conformation. Yet even in this respect they seem to be sufficiently discriminated by nature: as they are to live among the waters, yet are incapable of swimming in them, most of them have long legs, fitted for wading in shallow waters, or long bills proper for groping in them. Every bird of this kind, habituated to marshy places, may be known, if not by the length of its legs, at least by the scaly surface of them. Those who have observed the legs of a snipe or a woodcock, will easily perceive my meaning; and how different the surface of the skin that covers them is from that of the pigeon or the partridge. Most birds of this kind also, are bare of feathers half way up the thigh; at least, in all of them above the knee.-Their long habits of wading in the waters, and having their legs continually in moisture, prevents the growth of feathers on those parts; so that there is a surprising difference between the legs of a crane, naked of feathers almost up to the body, and the falcon booted almost to the very toes. The bill is also very distinguishable in most of this class. It is, in general, longer than that of other birds, and in some finely fluted on every side; while at the point it is possessed of extreme sensibility, and furnished with nerves, for the better feeling their food at the bottom of marshes, where it cannot be seen. Some birds of this class are thus fitted with every convenience; they have long legs for wading, long necks for stooping, long bills for searching, and nervous points for feeling. Others are not so amply provided for; as some have long bills, but legs of no great length; and others have long necks, |