Mr. Gosse gives the following interesting account of one of the many attempts he made to rear two young males of this beautiful species. The subjects of this experiment were not confined in a cage, but kept in a room with doors and windows close shut. "They were lively, but not wild; playful towards each other, and tame with respect to myself, sitting unrestrained for several seconds at a time on my finger. I collected a few flowers, and placed them in a vase on a high shelf, and to these they resorted immediately; but I soon found that they paid attention to none but Asclepias corrassavica. On this, I again went out and gathered a large bunch of asclepias, and was pleased to observe that on the moment of my entering the room one flew to the nosegay and sucked while I held it in my hand. The other soon followed; and then both these lovely creatures were buzzing together within an inch of my face, probing the flowers so eagerly as to allow their bodies to be touched without alarm. These flowers being placed in another glass, they visited each bouquet in turn, now and then flying after each other playfully through the room, or alighting on various objects. Although they occasionally flew against the window, they did not flutter and beat themselves at it; but seemed well content with their lot. As they flew I repeatedly heard them snap their beaks, at which time they doubtless caught minute flies. After some time, one of them suddenly sank down into one corner, and on being taken up seemed dying; it lingered awhile and died. The other continued his vivacity. Perceiving that he exhausted the flowers, I prepared a tube, made of the barrel of a goose-quill, which I inserted into the cork of a bottle, to secure its steadiness and upright position, and filled it with juice of sugar-cane. I then took a large Ipomea, and having cut off the bottom, slipped the flower over the tube so that the quill took the place of the nectary of the flower. The bird flew to it in a moment, clung to the bottle's rim, and bringing his beak perpendicular, thrust it into the tube. It was at once evident that the repast was agreeable, for he continued pumping for several moments; and on his flying off I found the quill emptied. As he had torn off the flower in his eagerness for more, and even followed the fragments as they lay on the table to search them, I re-filled the quill, and put a blossom of the marvel of Peru into it, so that the flower expanded over the top; the little toper found it again, and after drinking freely, withdrew his beak, but the blossom was adhering to it as a sheath. This incumbrance it got rid of, and then returned immediately, and, inserting his beak into the bare quill, finished the contents. It was amusing to see the odd position of his body as he clung to the bottle, with his beak inserted perpendicularly into the cork. Several times in the evening he had recourse to his new fountain, and at length betook himself to a line stretched across the room for repose. He slept, as they all do, with the head not behind the wing, but slightly drawn back on the shoulders. In the morning I found him active before sunrise, having already emptied his quill of syrup. After some hours, he flew through a door I incautiously left open, and, to my great chagrin, escaped.
"Another male that I kept became so familiar, even before I had had him for a day, as to fly to my face, and, perching on my lip or chin, thrust his beak into my mouth and suck up the moisture. He grew so bold and so frequent in his visits as at length to become almost annoying, and so pertinacious as to thrust his protruded tongue into all parts of my mouth, searching between the gum and cheek or beneath the tongue. Occasionally I gratified him by taking into my mouth a little of the syrup, and inviting him by a slight sound which he had learnt to understand. This bird and his companions in captivity early selected his own place for perching, without invading his neighbours'. So strong was this predilection, that on my driving one away from his spot he would flutter round the room, but try to alight there again, and if still prevented would hover near the place as if much distressed. The boldest of these birds was rather pugnacious, occasionally attacking one of his gentler and more confiding companions, who always yielded and fled. After a day or two, however, the persecuted one plucked up courage, and actually played the tyrant in his turn, interdicting his playfellow from sipping at the sweetened cup. Twenty times in succession would the thirsty bird drop down upon the wing to the glass, which stood at the edge of a table immediately beneath that part of a line where both were wont to perch; but no sooner was he poised in front, and about to insert his tongue, than the other would dart down with inconceivable swiftness, and wheeling so as to come up beneath him, would drive him from his repast. He might fly to any part of the room unmolested, but an approach to the cup was the signal for an instant assault. The ill-natured fellow himself took long and frequent draughts.
"When these birds were accustomed to the room, their vivacity was extreme; as manifested in their upright position and quick turns and glances when sitting, which caused their brilliant breasts to flash out from the darkness into sudden lustrous light, like rich gems; and no less by their startings hither and thither, and their most graceful wheelings and evolutions in the air, so rapid that the eye was frequently baffled in attempting to follow their motions."
The COMETS (Sparganura) possess a very remarkably graduated tail, the outer feathers of which are five times as long as those in the centre.
THE SAPPHO COMET.
The SAPPHO COMET (Sparganura Sappho) is bright scarlet on the back, and of a metallic green on the head and under side; the throat, of a lighter shade, is lustrous, and the lower part of the belly light brown; the quills are purplish brown, the tail-feathers brown, very glossy at the base, and bright fiery orange towards the deep brown tip. The female is green on the mantle, and spotted grey on the under side; her tail is short, and its feathers of an uniform light red.
"No combination of gorgeous colouring," says Dr. Tschudi, "can exceed that which is presented in the plumage of this Humming Bird, as it appears and disappears like a dazzling flash of coloured light. It haunts the warm, primeval forests, but is still more frequently found in the pure atmosphere of the ceja-girded montãnas."
THE SAPPHO COMET (Sparganura Sappho).