THE HUMMING BIRDS (_Stridor_), a family of most beautiful and fairy-like
beings, inhabiting the Western Hemisphere, comprise some of the smallest
members of the feathered creation. In these birds the beak is generally
long, slender, straight, or curved, usually round, and sharp at the tip;
the nostrils are basal, and covered with a large scale; the wings and
tail are very variously formed, the latter being always composed of ten
feathers; the very short tarsi are most delicately constructed; the long
slender toes are covered with small scales, and either partially united
or completely free from each other; the sharp-pointed claws frequently
exceed the toes in length. The glorious plumage possessed by the members
of this most attractive family has been enthusiastically described by
many writers, but never more eloquently than by Buffon. "Of all animated
beings," says that naturalist, "the Humming Bird is the most elegant
in form and brilliant in colour. The stones and metals polished by art
are not comparable to this gem of nature; she has placed it in the
order of birds, but amongst the tiniest of the race--_maxime miranda in
minimis_--she has loaded it with all the gifts of which she has only
imparted a share to other birds--agility, nimbleness, grace, and rich
attire, all belong to this little favourite. The emerald, the ruby, and
the topaz glitter in her garb, which is never soiled with the dirt of
earth, for, leading an aërial life, it rarely touches the turf even for an
instant. Always in the air, flying from flower to flower, it shares their
freshness and their splendour, imbibes their nectar, and only inhabits
those climes in which they are unceasingly renewed. The Humming Bird seems
to follow the sun, to advance, to retire with him, and to fly on the wings
of the wind in pursuit of an eternal spring."
"Along the whole line of the Andes, which form as it were the backbone of
America," writes Gould, in the valuable introduction to his magnificent
work on the "Trochilidæ," "at remarkably short intervals occur species of
this family of birds of the greatest possible beauty, which are not only
specifically but generically distinct from each other. Abundant as the
species may be towards the northern and southern portions of the great
chain of mountains, they vastly increase in number as we approach the
equator. The equatorial regions teem with species and even genera that are
not found elsewhere. Between the snow-line of the summit of the towering
volcanoes and their bases many zones of temperature occur, each of which
has it own especial animal and vegetable life. The Alpine region has its
flora, accompanied by insects especially adapted to such situations;
and attendant on these are peculiar forms of Humming Birds, which never
descend to the hot valleys, and scarcely even to the cooler and more
temperate paramos. Many of the higher zones of extinct and existing
volcanoes have their own fauna and flora, even in the interior walls of
ancient craters, wherever vegetation has gained a footing. Some species
of Humming Birds have there, and there only, as yet been discovered. It
is the exploration of such situations that has led to the acquisition
of so many additional species of this family of birds, which now reach
to more than 400. From Santa Fé de Bogota alone many thousands of skins
are annually sent to London and Paris. The Indians readily learn the art
of preserving them, and as a certain amount of emolument attends the
collecting of these objects they often traverse great distances for the
purpose of procuring them. Districts stretching more than 100 miles away
from Bogota are strictly searched, and hence it is that from these places
alone we receive no less than seventy species belonging to this family.
In like manner the residents of many parts of Brazil employ their slaves
in preparing their skins for the European markets, and many thousands are
annually sent from Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco; the inmates of
convents are also supplied with many of the more richly-coloured species
for the manufacture of feather flowers. How numerous then must these birds
be in their native wilds; and how wonderfully must they keep in check the
peculiar kind of insect life upon which they feed!"
In disposition the Humming Birds exhibit a fearlessness and courage quite
out of proportion to the delicacy of their structure, and we might cite
many instances of the fierce encounters in which they sometimes engage; we
must, however, confine ourselves to an extract from Gosse's interesting
little book on the birds of Jamaica.
"The pugnacity of the Humming Bird has been often spoken of; two of the
same species can scarcely suck flowers from the same bush without a
rencontre. I once witnessed a combat between two which was prosecuted
with much pertinacity, and protracted to an unusual length. It was in
the month of April at Phœnix Park, near Savannah-la-Mer. In the garden
were two trees of the kind called Malay apple, one of which was but a
yard or two from my window. The genial influence of the spring rains had
covered them with a profusion of beautiful blossoms, each consisting of
a multitude of crimson stamens with very minute petals, like bunches of
crimson tassels, but the last buds were only beginning to open. A Humming
Bird had every day and all day long been paying his devoirs to these
charming blossoms. On the morning to which I allude another appeared, and
the manœuvres of these two tiny creatures became very interesting. They
chased each other through the labyrinths of twigs and flowers till, an
opportunity occurring, one would dart with seeming fury upon the other,
and then, with a loud rustling of their wings, they would twirl together
round and round until they nearly came to the earth. It was some time
before I could see with any distinctness what took place in these tussles;
their twistings were so rapid as to baffle all attempts at discrimination.
At length an encounter took place pretty close to me, and I perceived that
the beak of the one grasped the beak of the other, and, thus fastened,
both whirled round in their perpendicular descent, the point of contact
being the centre of the gyrations, till, when another second would have
brought them to the ground, they separated, and the one chased the other
for about a hundred yards and then returned in triumph to the tree, where,
perched on a lofty twig, he chirped monotonously and pertinaciously for
a time, I could not help thinking, in defiance. In a few minutes the
banished one returned, and began chirping no less provokingly, which soon
brought on another chase and another tussle. I am persuaded that these
were both hostile encounters, for the one seemed evidently afraid of
the other, fleeing when he pursued, though his indomitable spirit would
prompt the chirp of defiance, and when resting after a battle I noticed
that the vanquished one held his beak open as if panting. Sometimes they
would suspend hostilities to suck a few blossoms, but mutual proximity was
sure to bring them on again with the same result. In their tortuous and
rapid evolutions the light from their ruby necks would flash in the sun
with gem-like radiance, and as they now and then hovered motionless, the
broadly-expanded tail--the outer feathers of which were crimson-purple,
but in the sun's rays transmitted orange-coloured light--added much to
their beauty. A little Banana Quit (_Certhiola flaveola_), that was
peeping among the blossoms in his own quiet way, seemed now and then to
look with surprise on the combatants; but when the one had driven the
other to a longer distance than usual the victor set upon the unoffending
Quit, who soon yielded the point, and retired humbly enough to a
neighbouring tree. The war--for it was a thorough campaign, a regular
succession of battles--lasted fully an hour, and then I was called away
from my post of observation. Both of the Humming Birds appeared to be
males."
According to Gosse, the Vervain Humming Bird is the only species endowed
with a song; this bird warbles very weakly but sweetly for ten minutes at
a time during the spring months. The other members of this family at most
indulge in a sharp shrill chirp, as they flit from one flower to another.
* * * * *
The GIANT GNOMES (_Eustephanus_), the largest members of the family, are
not conspicuous for the gaiety of their plumage. The structure of their
long beak varies considerably; the foot is of moderate size; the wings
either long and slender or broad and short; the tail, which is of medium
length, is forked at its extremity.