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bill (T. recurvirostris), already named, and the Topaz. Of this last it has been said that, were all these brilliant birds to dispute the palm, and be observed in turn, it would be found the most beautiful. The light and elegant figure of this bird is something less than our Woodpecker. Its length from the tip of the bill to the end of the true tail is nearly six inches; the two long feathers exceed this by two inches and a half. The throat and breast are enriched by a plate of great brilliancy. Seen from the side, this colour changes into a golden green; seen from above, it appears a pure green. A coif of velvety black covers the head; a fillet of the same black encircles the topaz plate; the breast, the side of the neck, and the top of the back are of a most beautiful deep purple; the belly is still more rich, by a reflection of scarlet and gold; the shoulders, and the bottom of the back, are of a light red. The large feathers of the wing are of a violet-brown; the small feathers are ruddy. The colour of both the superior and inferior covertures of the tail is of a golden green; the lateral quill-feathers are red, and the two intermediate ones of a purplebrown.

The whole family has been divided into the following genera by Mr. Swainson, viz.-Campylopterous: having the bill curved; shafts of the quills dilated; tail graduated. Lampornis: with the bill straight, or very slightly bent; considerably depressed for its whole length, but more especially at the base; wings reaching to the end of the tail, which is short and even. Trochilus having the bill very straight, long, cylindrical, or rather broader than high; tail generally

even, but sometimes slightly forked.

Cynanthus : with a cylindrical bill, more or less curved; tail forked. Phaethornis: with the bill considerably compressed, generally curved from the base; tail graduated or cuneated.

Another very beautiful family of birds succeeds to the Trochilide; it is composed of the Sun-birds, Cinnyride, inhabitants of the tropical portions of Africa and India. They are small birds, but are clothed with most brilliant plumage. The bill is very long, slender, and acutely pointed; the margins in some of the species being dentated in the most regular manner; their serratures are so small as scarcely to be seen by the naked eye. The tongue is formed into a bifid tube, or rather, as Mr. Swainson suspects, into two flattened filaments; it is long and susceptible of protrusion. The feet are moderate in their dimensions, and the wings moderate in length and rounded.

The gay and beautiful tints which are so strikingly developed in the Sun-birds, have caused them to be much sought after as ornaments to the person or museum; a rich golden green, varied on the under parts with steel-blue, purple, bright orange, or vivid crimson, decorates nearly all the species, and produces a brilliancy of colours only rivalled by those of the Humming Birds. It is only, however, in the pairing season that the male birds assume this metallic lustre of plumage. They feed on minute insects and, it is supposed, on the nectar of flowers, which they procure by probing the honeyed calyx with their lengthened bills, whilst hovering on the wing.

The following description by Mr. Swainson of the splendid Sun-bird (Cinnyris splendida) will give some idea of the beautiful appearance of these birds. "The enthusiastic Le Vaillant," says that eminent naturalist, "might well be enraptured upon discovering this charming little creature, which is certainly the most splendid species in this group we have yet seen. Its head and neck may be called either purple, blue, violet, or lilac, for it changes to one or the other of these tints according to the direction it is held in, whether to or from the light, whether viewed by the sun or by a candle; in either case the plumage is as glossy as polished steel, while those parts not illuminated by the light become absolutely black. Such is the appearance of the crown, sides of the head, the neck, and the throat, to a little beyond the breast, where this colour is crossed by several narrow irregular lines of bright scarlet; the lower half of the body, to the vent, is deep uniform black, without any gloss; the upper plumage, from the interscapulars to the tail-coverts, is the most brilliant polished blue-green, one or other of which colours preponderate according to the light; but there is no golden or other tint intermixed. The same green is upon the lesser wing-coverts, and the under tail-coverts. What particularly distinguishes this species from all others yet known, is the great prolongation of the upper tail-coverts, which are quite as long as (and entirely conceal) the tail itself, the feathers of which are all even, and blue-black. The wings, feet, and bill are solely black. The length of this species is three and a half inches."

Another species, the olive-backed Sun-bird (Cinnyris

chloronotus), is thus coloured. The whole of the head, neck above, and the throat, as far as the breast, is of a dark glossy blue-green; this colour terminates before it reaches the interscapulars, which, with the remainder of the upper plumage, is olive-green, over which there is a strong tinge of yellow, without any of that metallic gloss seen on the head and neck. The side feathers on the breast, just beneath the wing, are of a clear and delicate straw-yellow; while the whole of the body, belly, vent, and under tail-coverts are of a deep and uniform cinereous grey. The quills and tailfeathers are dark hair-brown, edged with yellowish olive. Length five inches.

Hoopoes.

NEXT in succession to the Sun-birds, and forming the aberrant family of the tenuirostral birds, are arranged the Hoopoes (Promeropida), the species of which are few in number, and restricted to the Old World. These birds are distinguished by a syndactylic form of foot, the outer toe being united for half its length to the middle toe; and a very long, compressed, curved bill. The plumage of the Hoopoes is generally glossed with a metallic blue andd eep green; and in one species, the Grand Promerops of New Guinea, the side and tailfeathers are developed in the most singular and extraordinary manner, indicating in this respect a close affinity to some of the Paradise Birds. The Hoopoes are ground-feeders; but their legs are short, and their feet combine the properties of perching and walking feet.

They feed upon insects, worms, and other similar prey that are found in moist marshy situations. The length of their bill facilitates the capture of their food in thick herbage, or even at some depth under water. One species, the Common Hoopoe, as it is termed, annually visits Europe during the summer months, and is occasionally found to reach as far as this island; and instances are recorded of its having bred in this country. The Hoopoe is a handsome bird, and marches on the ground with a kind of strut, bearing some resemblance to that of Gallinida. They not only perch with great firmness upon low

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