The RUBY-THROATED FAIRY HUMMING BIRD (_Trochilus colubris_) is easily
recognisable by its awl-shaped beak, of medium size, and compressed at
its base, its short, slender foot, long, narrow wing, and slightly-forked
tail. The mantle and centre tail-feathers are green, enlivened with
gold; the sides of the neck, throat, and breast are of a brilliant
ruby-red, spotted with black; the rest of the under side is greyish
white, intermixed with green; the quills and tail-feathers are purplish
brown; the eye dark brown, and the beak and foot black. In the male the
entire under side is white, and the three exterior tail-feathers relieved
by a white spot. The length of the body is three inches and a half, and
the breadth four inches and a quarter. This species is found in all the
eastern portions of the United States.
[Illustration: THE BRAZILIAN FAIRY (_Heliothrix auriculata_).]
This beautiful little bird is pre-eminently migratory in its habits, a
great portion of its life being spent in passing from north to south, and
_vice versâ_. "The Ruby-throated Humming Bird," says Wilson, "makes its
first appearance in Georgia, from the south, about the 23rd of March. As
it passes on to the northward, as far as the interior of Canada, where it
is seen in great numbers, the wonder is excited how so feebly-constructed
and delicate a little creature can make its way over such extensive
regions of lakes and forests among so many enemies, all its superiors in
strength and size; but its very minuteness, the rapidity of its flight,
which almost eludes the eye, and its admirable instinct or reason are
its guides and protectors. About the 25th of April it usually arrives in
Pennsylvania, and about the 11th of May begins to build its nest. This is
generally fixed on the upper side of some horizontal branch, not among
the twigs, but where it is attached by the side to an old moss-grown
trunk; others may be found fastened on a strong, rank stalk or weed in
the gardens, but these cases are rare. The nest, which is usually placed
on a branch some ten feet from the ground, is about one inch in diameter,
and as much in depth, and the outer coat of one now lying before me is
formed of a small species of blueish grey lichen, thickly glued on with
the saliva of the bird, giving firmness and consistency to the whole, as
well as keeping out moisture. Within this are thickly-matted layers of the
fine wings of certain flying seeds, closely laid together, and lastly the
downy substance from the great mullein and from the stalks of the common
fern lining the whole. The two eggs are pure white, and of equal thickness
at both ends. On a person approaching their nest, the little proprietors
dart around with a humming sound, passing within a few inches of his head,
and should the young be nearly hatched the female will resume her place
on the nest, even while the spectator stands within a yard or two of the
spot. The precise period of incubation I am unable to give, but the young
are accustomed, within a short time of leaving the nest, to thrust their
bills into the mouths of their parents and suck out what they have brought
them. As I have found their nests as late as the 12th of July, I do not
doubt but that they frequently and perhaps usually raise two broods in the
season.
"This Humming Bird is extremely fond of tubular flowers, and I have
often stopped to observe his manœuvres among the blossoms of the trumpet
flower. When arrived before a thicket of these in full bloom, he poises or
suspends himself on wing for the space of two or three seconds so steadily
that his wings become invisible or only like a mist, and you can plainly
distinguish the pupil of his eye looking round with great quickness and
circumspection; the glossy golden green of his tail and the fire of his
throat dazzling in the sun form altogether a most beautiful appearance.
When he alights, which he frequently does, he always prefers the dry
twigs of a tree or bush, where he dresses and arranges his plumage with
great dexterity. His only note is a single chirp, not louder than that
of a small cricket or grasshopper, generally uttered while passing from
flower to flower, or when engaged in fight with his fellows; for when two
males meet at the same bush or flower a battle instantly takes place, and
the combatants ascend in the air, chirping, darting, and circling round
each other till the eye is no longer able to follow them--the conqueror,
however, generally returns to the place to reap the fruit of his victory.
I have seen him attack and, for a few moments, tease the King Bird, and
have also seen him in his turn assaulted by a humble bee, which he soon
put to flight.
"This beautiful and delicate species is extremely susceptible of cold,
and if long deprived of the animating influence of the sunbeams droops
and soon dies. A very fine male which was brought to me I put into a
wire cage, and placed it in a retired, shaded part of the room. After
fluttering about for some time, the weather being uncommonly cool, it
clung to the wires and seemed in a torpid state for the whole forenoon. No
movement of breathing could be perceived on the closest inspection, though
at other times this is remarkably observable, the eyes were shut, and when
touched with the finger it gave no signs of life or motion. I carried it
out into the open air, and placed it directly in the rays of the sun; in
a few seconds respiration became very apparent, the bird breathed faster
and faster, opened its eyes, and began to look about with as much seeming
vivacity as ever. After it had completely recovered it flew off to the
top of a pine-tree, where it sat for some time dressing its disordered
plumage, and then shot off like a meteor.
"The flight of this Humming Bird from flower to flower greatly resembles
that of a bee, but is so much more rapid that the latter appears a mere
loiterer in comparison with him. He poises himself on wing, while he
thrusts his long, slender, tubular tongue into the flowers in search of
food. He sometimes enters a room by the window, examines the bouquets of
flowers, and has been known to return regularly every evening for several
days together. From the blossoms of the towering tulip-tree, through a
thousand intermediate flowers, to those of the humble larkspur, he ranges
at will and almost incessantly. About the 20th of September these birds
generally retire south, and about November pass the southern boundary of
the United States into Florida."
"No sooner," says Audubon, "does the returning sun again introduce the
vernal season, and cause millions of plants to expand their leaves and
blossoms to his genial beams, than this Humming Bird is seen advancing
on fairy wings, carefully visiting every flower-cup, and, like a curious
florist, removing from each the injurious insects that would otherwise,
ere long, cause their beauteous petals to droop and decay. Poised in
the air, it is observed peeping cautiously and with sparkling eye into
their innermost recesses, whilst the ethereal motion of the pinions, so
rapid and so light, appears to fan and cool the flowers without injury
to their fragile texture, and produces a delightful murmuring sound.
Its long delicate beak enters the cup of the flower, and the protruded
double tongue, delicate, sensitive, and imbued with a glutinous saliva,
touches each insect in succession and draws it from its lurking-place to
be instantly swallowed. All this is done in a moment, and the bird as
it leaves the flower sips so small a portion of its liquid honey that
the theft we may suppose is but a benefit to the flower, which is thus
relieved from the attacks of its destroyers. The prairie, the fields, the
orchards, and the gardens, nay, the deepest shades of the forest, are all
visited in their turn, and everywhere the little bird meets with pleasure
and with food. Its gorgeous throat in beauty and brilliancy baffles all
description. Now it glows with a fiery hue, and again it changes to the
deepest velvet-black. The upper parts of its body are of resplendent
changing green, and it throws itself through the air with a swiftness and
vivacity hardly conceivable; it moves from flower to flower like a gleam
of light, upwards and downwards, to the right and to the left. During
their migrations they pass through the air in long undulations, raising
themselves for some distance at an angle of about 40°, and then falling
in a curve; but the smallness of their size precludes the possibility of
following them farther than fifty or sixty yards without great difficulty,
even with a good glass. They do not alight on the ground, but settle on
twigs and branches, where they move sideways in prettily-measured steps,
frequently opening and closing their wing, pluming, shaking, and arranging
the whole of their apparel with the utmost neatness and activity; they
are particularly fond of spreading one wing at a time, and passing each
of the quill-feathers through their bill in its full length, when, if the
sun be shining, the wing thus plumed is rendered extremely transparent and
light. They quit the twig without the slightest difficulty in an instant,
and appear to be possessed of superior powers of vision, making directly
towards a Marten or Blue Bird when fifty or sixty yards before them,
before it seems aware of their approach. Their food consists principally
of insects, generally of the coleopterous order, these, together with
some equally diminutive flies, being commonly found in their stomachs.
The first are procured within the flowers, but many of the latter on the
wing. Where is the person," says Audubon, "who, on seeing this lovely
little creature moving on humming winglets through the air, suspended as
if by magic, flitting from one flower to another with motions as graceful
as they are light and airy, pursuing its course and yielding new delight
wherever it is seen--where is the person who, on observing this glittering
fragment of a rainbow, would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with
reverence towards the Almighty Creator, the wonders of whose hand we
at every step discover, and of whose sublime conceptions we everywhere
observe the manifestation in His admirable system of Creation?"
"When morning dawns, and the blest sun again
Lifts his red glories o'er the eastern main,
Then through our woodbines, wet with glittering dews,
The flower-fed Humming Bird his way pursues,
Sips with inserted tube the honied blooms,
And chirps his gratitude as round he roams;
While richest roses, though in crimson drest,
Shrink from the splendour of his gorgeous breast.
What heavenly tints in mingling radiance fly!
Each rapid movement gives a different dye--
Like scales of burnished gold, they dazzling show;
Now sink to shade, now like a furnace glow."
The following very interesting account of the demeanour of this delicate
and interesting bird in captivity is given by Gould:--"A _Trochilus
colubris_ captured for me by some friends pumped the fluid from a little
bottle whenever offered it, and in this manner it lived with me a constant
companion for several days, travelling in a little, thin gauze bag,
distended with whalebone, and suspended to a button of my coat. It was
only necessary for me to take the bottle in my hand to induce it to thrust
its spiny bill through the gauze, protrude its lengthened tongue down
the neck of the bottle, and pump up the fluid till it was satiated; it
would then fly to the bottom of its little home, preen its tail and wing
feathers, and seem quite content.
"The specimens I brought alive to this country were as docile and fearless
as a great moth under similar treatment. The little cage in which they
lived was twelve inches long, seven wide, and eight high. In this was
placed a diminutive twig, and suspended to the side a glass phial, which
I daily supplied with saccharine matter, in the form of sugar or honey
and water, with the addition of the yolk of an unboiled egg. Upon this
food they appeared to thrive and be happy during the voyage along the
seaboard of America and across the Atlantic, until they arrived within the
influence of the climate of Europe. The vessel in which I made the passage
took a northern course, which carried us over the banks of Newfoundland,
and although the cold was rather severe during part of the time, the only
effect it appeared to have upon my little pets was to induce a kind of
torpidity, from which they were rapidly aroused by placing them in the
sunshine, in the bosom, or near a fire. I do assure my readers that I have
seen these little creatures cold, stiff, and to all appearance dead, and
that from this state they were readily restored by a little attention and
removal into light and heat, when they would 'peck up,' flutter their tiny
wings, and feast away as if in the best state of health."
* * * * *
The AMETHYST HUMMING BIRDS (_Calliphlox_) have a delicate, pointed beak,
exceeding the head in length; the legs are slender and the toes and claws
short, the latter much hooked and sharply pointed. The wings are short;
the tail of the male, composed of narrow feathers, is forked at its
extremity, whilst that of the female is quite straight.