Proceeding southwards, we find numerous beautiful humming-birds in
Bolivia. Among them is the sappho comet, or bar-tailed humming-bird.
In winter it descends into the lowlands of Peru, among the abodes of
men, visiting their gardens and orchards with perfect fearlessness. The
larger part of the plumage is of a light green, the lower portion of the
back a deep crimson-red. The throat is metallic green, and the wings
are purple-brown. The base of the tail is brown, but the greater part
is of a fiery hue, tipped with velvety black.
As it darts from flower to flower--now describing a circle, now turning
and performing numberless other evolutions--the eye is unable to follow
it, and it is lost to sight, until it again returns to the flower which
at first attracted its attention.
On arriving at its winter abode, it takes up its residence in the
shrubberies and gardens of the Indian cottages, says Mr Bonelli. The
hill-side of the neighbouring country, clothed with the indigenous trees
and shrubs, also affords it a fit place of abode, whence it descends
several times a day to the cultivated plains below, particularly to the
fields of maize and pulse, and other leguminous plants. The rich
flowers of the large cacti are also frequently visited, as they afford
it a constant and abundant supply of insect food.
The nest is a somewhat loose structure, outwardly composed of vegetable
fibres, slight twigs, and moss, and frequently lined with soft hair.
The lower portion is prolonged considerably below 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 being nearly three inches. The nest
is placed against the sides of the walls, supported by any hanging root
or twig that may be best adapted to afford it security. The eggs are
two in number, and oblong in form, of a pure white, half an inch in
length, by about five-sixteenths of an inch in breadth.