characters belonging to this type, namely, a very strong and lengthened hind toe and claw, formed, however, as in ordinary perchers. In every other respect the feet would indicate (from the length of the tarsus) that these birds occasionally frequent the ground, although (from the inequality of the lateral toes) their chief residence was among trees; this latter supposition is confirmed by their habits. Their food, as already intimated, consists of the nectar of the flowering trees of New Holland, which they lick with their brush-like tongue, together with such insects as frequent the same blossoms.

The wings of the Honey-suckers are rounded, and generally of moderate size. The plumage in general is dull, or at least destitute of those brilliant tints which are so strikingly developed in the generality of birds of this order.

Peculiar to the warmer continent of the New World, as the Sun-birds are to the tropical districts of the Old, the Nectarinidæ, or Nectar-birds, are distinguished by the bill being in general shorter than the head, wide at the base, but compressed from the nostrils. Top of the upper mandible with a distinct notch. Wings long; the three first quills nearly equal. The species of this family are but few, and their habits but imperfectly known. They do not climb, nor poise themselves upon the wing when searching for food, but hop from flower to flower, exploring the nectary of each.

Humming Birds.

TROCHILIDE.

THE known species of the numerous family of the brilliant little birds called Humming Birds amount to several hundreds, and, as their native localities are not easily explored, the unknown species are probably equal in number. They are the smallest of the feathered tribes. They are also the most beautiful, as to the texture and colour of their plumage; the most active and graceful; and, taken altogether, the most interesting and curious of the fowls of the air. They are principally, if not exclusively, natives of the American continent, here they actually swarm in the warmer and more fertile districts. They are not however, entirely confined to the tropical portion of the country, but are found in high northern latitudes, where the climate is not only temperate but cold; and when Captain King was surveying the coast of the extreme south of America, he found large flocks of Humming Birds flying about in the middle of a snowstorm, apparently unaffected by it.

Humming Birds (Trochilida) are ever on the wing in search of those minute insects which seek concealment as well as food within the flowers which bloom so luxuriantly in the warmer regions of America. "The central forests of that country," remarks an

elegant writer," are festooned with an endless variety of climbing plants, usually having the flowers more or less bell or trumpet shaped, many of them of large dimensions, and of the most splendid colours. Among these the flowers of the natural order Bignoniacea appear to claim the special care of the Humming Birds. Within the nectared calyx of their splendid petals a numerous tribe of insect mites love to seek seclusion, and sip the luscious food; for the land of Humming Birds is, in an especial manner, also the land of insects."

The name of Humming Bird was given to the individuals of this family on account of the humming sound. caused by the rapid motion of their narrow wings when suspended in the air, hovering about a flower in the manner of some species of dipterous insects in this country. The velocity of the movement is so great that the wings themselves are not visible; and the bird appears as if hung motionless upon the sound itself, while the radiant lustre of its metallic reflections constantly varies according to the direction of the rays of light. The muscular strength of these little creatures is so great, that they continue on the wing for a considerable time without inconvenience, indeed, they seem rather to gain an impetus for flight by the rapid action of their wings, as they instantaneously dart from one place to another, upwards, downwards, or laterally, without any perceptible effort.

The Indian name given to these little gems of the feathered race is equivalent to "beams or locks of the sun," in our own tongue. Their colours are so rich and brilliant, that they have been said to resemble the