The SAPPHO COMET (_Sparganura Sappho_) is bright scarlet on the back, and
of a metallic green on the head and under side; the throat, of a lighter
shade, is lustrous, and the lower part of the belly light brown; the
quills are purplish brown, the tail-feathers brown, very glossy at the
base, and bright fiery orange towards the deep brown tip. The female
is green on the mantle, and spotted grey on the under side; her tail is
short, and its feathers of an uniform light red.
"No combination of gorgeous colouring," says Dr. Tschudi, "can exceed that
which is presented in the plumage of this Humming Bird, as it appears
and disappears like a dazzling flash of coloured light. It haunts the
warm, primeval forests, but is still more frequently found in the pure
atmosphere of the ceja-girded montãnas."
[Illustration: THE SAPPHO COMET (_Sparganura Sappho_).]
"One of the principal summer haunts of this bird," writes M. Bourcier,
"is Chuquesaca, in the interior of Bolivia, where it appears when the
fruit-trees of the country are in flower, and is met with in the greatest
numbers among the flowers of the capulo, a kind of cherry-tree; it also
visits the orchards and gardens of the city during the blossoming of the
apple-trees. It is by no means shy, and the males are constantly at war,
chasing each other with the utmost fury, uttering at the same time a sharp
cry, whenever one bird invades another's territory."
[Illustration: HUMMING BIRDS.]
"Soon after the arrival of these birds in Chuquerca," says Bonelli, "the
task of incubation commences, and when the summer is over, both the old
and young, actuated, as it were, by the same impulse, wend their way
southward, to return again when the sun has once more gladdened the
earth. The nest is a somewhat loose structure, outwardly composed of
interlaced fibres, slight twigs, and moss, and frequently lined with soft
hair, like that of the Viscacha (_Lagostomus tridactylus_), with the
lower portion prolonged considerably below the bottom of 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 averaging from two inches and a half
to three inches. The little structure is placed in situations similar to
those selected by the Spotted Flycatcher, namely, against the sides of
the gully, supported or entirely sustained by any hanging root or twig
that may be best adapted to afford it security; the part of the nest next
the wall is much thicker, but of a coarser texture than the circular
portions of the structure. The two eggs are oblong in form, of a pure
white, and about half an inch in length. The difficulty of shooting these
birds is inconceivably great, from the extraordinary turns they make when
on the wing: at one instant darting headlong into a flower, at the next
describing a circle in the air with such rapidity that the eye, unable
to follow the movement, loses sight of it until it again returns to the
flowers."
* * * * *
The MASKED HUMMING BIRDS (_Microrhamphi_) have a short, straight beak,
moderately long and broad wings, and long, forked tail, which occasionally
varies in its formation. The head and neck are adorned with peculiar tufts
of feathers.