As it darts from flower to flower—now describing a circle, now turning and performing numberless other evolutions—the eye is unable to follow it, and it is lost to sight, until it again returns to the flower which at first attracted its attention.
On arriving at its winter abode, it takes up its residence in the shrubberies and gardens of the Indian cottages, says Mr Bonelli. The hill-side of the neighbouring country, clothed with the indigenous trees and shrubs, also affords it a fit place of abode, whence it descends several times a day to the cultivated plains below, particularly to the fields of maize and pulse, and other leguminous plants. The rich flowers of the large cacti are also frequently visited, as they afford it a constant and abundant supply of insect food.
The nest is a somewhat loose structure, outwardly composed of vegetable fibres, slight twigs, and moss, and frequently lined with soft hair. The lower portion is prolonged considerably below the cup-shaped interior, which is about an inch and a half in diameter, and an inch in depth; the total length of the nest being nearly three inches. The nest is placed against the sides of the walls, supported by any hanging root or twig that may be best adapted to afford it security. The eggs are two in number, and oblong in form, of a pure white, half an inch in length, by about five-sixteenths of an inch in breadth.
The Phaon Comet—Blue-Tailed Sylph.
The phaon comet is considerably larger, but very similar to the former, except that the whole of its tail is of a crimson-red.
The blue-tailed sylph has a wide range along the temperate regions of the Cordilleras. The genus of sylph to which it belongs is among the most beautiful and graceful in form of the humming-birds. The body is of a bronzed green, and the crown of the head of a metallic golden green; while the throat is adorned with a gorget of the most intense purple-blue. It has a superb tail, the two central feathers of which are of a shining metallic green; the two next are black at their base, and rich blue towards their extremities, tipped and edged with bright metallic green, shot with blue.
But we have not space to describe one-tenth part of those wonderful, bright, and small specimens of the feathered tribe which inhabit the mountains for their entire length. Darwin found one of the species—the Trochilus forficatus—flying about amid the snow-storms in the forests of Tierra del Fuego; while in the wooded island of Chiloe, which has an extremely humid climate, he saw it skipping from side to side amid the dripping foliage.
In the same island is found another species, the Trochilus gigas—a very large bird for so delicate a family. When on the wing, it moves from place to place with the most rapid flight; but whilst hovering over a flower, it flaps its wings with a very slow and powerful movement, totally different from that of the vibratory one common to most of the species which produces the humming noise. When hovering by a flower, its tail is constantly opened and shut like a fan, the body being in a nearly vertical position. This action appears to steady and support the bird between the slow movements of its wings. It feeds chiefly on insects. The note of this species, like that of nearly the whole family, is extremely shrill.
In Bolivia are found the Bolivian violet-ear, Warren’s wood-star, and many others; but we must bring our description of the humming-birds of this region to a conclusion.