The Humming Birds

— THE HUMMING BIRDS. By Robert Ridgway. INTRODUCTION. Minutest of the feathered kind, Possessing every charm combin'd, Nature, in forming thee, design'd That thou shouldst be A proof within how little space She can comprise such perfect grace, Rendering thy lovely fairy race Beauty's epitome. Thou burnished colors to bestow, Her pencil in the heavenly bow She dipp'd, and made thy plumes to glow With every hue. —Charlotte Smith. Of all the numerous groups .nto which the birds are divided there is none other so numerous in species, so varied in form, so brilliant in plumage, and so different from all others in their mode of life. Inhab- itants exclusively of the tropical and temperate portions of America, they constitute the most charming element in the wonderfully varied bird-life of the New World. Buffon considers the Humming Bird "of all animated beings . the most elegant in form and brilliant in color. 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 among the tiniest of the race maxime miranda in minimus ; she has loaded it with all the gifts of which she has only given other birds a share. Agility, rapidity, nimbleness, grace, and rich attire all belong to this little favorite. The emerald, the ruby, and the topaz glitter in its garb, which is never soiled with the dust of earth, for, leading an aerial 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 splendor, lives on tlreir nectar, and only inhabits those climates in which they are unceasingly re- newed." Audubon calls the Humming Bird a " glittering fragment of the rainbow," and asks : "Who, on seeing this lovely little creature niov- 253 254 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. ing on humming winglets through the air, suspended as if by magic in it, flitting from one flower to another, with motions as graceful as they are light and airy, pursuing its course and yielding new delights wher- ever it is seen . would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with reverence toward the Almighty Creator, the wonders of whose hand we at every step discover, and of whose sublime conception we every- where observe the manifestations in his admirable system of creation V y Buffon's characterization, however, is somewhat inaccurate and slightly overdrawn, since nature has not endowed Humming Birds "with all the gifts of which she has only given other birds a share," the ab- sence of melodious voice being, as a rule, a conspicuous deficiency of u the tribe, while the statement that they are always in the air" is very inaccurate, Humming Birds requiring the same repose which other kinds find necessary. The author of that magnificent work, "A Monograph of the Trochi- lidse" —Mr. John Gould—in recounting his own experience with Hum- ming Birds, if less extravagant in his praise of them is no less en- thusiastic in his admiration. " That early impressions of the mind," says he, " are vividly retained, while events of the day flit from our memory, must have been experienced by everyone. How vivid, then, is my recollection of the first Humming Bird which met my admiring gaze ! With what delight did I examine its tiny body and feast my eyes on its glittering plumage ! This early impression, I well remem- ber, gradually increased into an earnest desire to attain a more inti- mate acquaintance with the lovely group of birds to which it pertained, and was still further strengthened when an opportunity was afforded me of inspecting the, at that time, unique collection of the Trochilidoe formed by the late Mr. George Loddiges, of Hackney. This gentleman and myself were imbued with a kindred spirit in the love we both en- tertained for this family of living gems. To describe the feeling which animated us with regard to them is impossible. It can, in fact, only be realized by those who have made natural history a study, and who pursue the investigation of its charming mysteries with ardor and delight. That our enthusiasm and excitement with regard to most things become lessened, if not deadened, by time, particularly when we have acquired what we vainly consider a complete knowledge of the subject, is, I fear, too often the case with most of us ; not so, however, I believe, with those who take up the study of the family of Humming Birds. Certainly I can affirm that such is not the case with myself; for the pleasure which I experience on seeing a Humming Bird is as great at the present moment as when I first saw one. Dur- ing the first 20 years of my acquaintance with these wonderful works of creation my thoughts were often directed to them in the day, and my night dreams have not unfrequently carried me to their native forests in the distant country of America. "In passing through this world I have remarked that when inquirers THE HUMMING BIRDS. 255 of a strong will really set themselves to attain a definite object they generally accomplish it ; and in my own case the time at length arrived when I was permitted to revel in the delight of seeing the Humming Birds in a state of nature, and to observe their habits in the woods and among the great flowering trees of the United States of America and in Canada." It is not the naturalist alone, however, who has been attracted by the wonderful beauty of Humming Birds. The demand for them is great for purely ornamental purposes, and though this has vastly added to their destruction it has, as a fortunate recompense, enabled naturalists to become better acquainted with them, the immense number of specimens often contained in milliners' and taxidermists' stocks frequently yielding species which otherwise would scarcely have become known to science. " Both Frenchmen and Belgians," says Mr. Gould, "have proceeded to South America to procure supplies of these birds, and dealers from those countries have established themselves in some of the cities of that part of the world for the like purpose. From Sta. F6 de Bogota alone many thousands of skins are annually sent to Lou- don and Paris, and sold as ornaments for the drawing-room and for scientific purposes. The Indians readily learn the art of skinning and preserving, and, as a certain amount of emolument attends the collecting of these objects, they often traverse great distances to p ocuro them ; districts more than a hundred miles on either side of Bogota are strictly searched ; and hence it is that from these places alone we receive not less than seventy species of these birds. In like manner the residents of many parts of Brazil employ their slaves in collecting, skinning, and preserving them for European markets, and many thousands are annually sent from Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco. They also supply the inmates of the convents with many of the more richly colored species for the manufacture of artificial feather-flowers." Vast numbers are also used by the natives of Mexico in producing the wonderful feather pictures for which the descendants of the Aztecs are famous. Regarding the method by which specimens of these dimunitive birds are obtained by the collector, there exists much popular misunder- standing. " Many really absurd statements," says Mr. Gould, " have been made as to the means by which these birds are obtained for our cabinets. It is most frequently asserted that they are shot with water or with sand. Now, so far as I am aware, these devices are never resorted to, but they are usually procured in the usual way, with Nos. 10 and 11 shot, those being the sizes best suited for the purpose. If smaller shot be used the plumage is very frequently so cut and damaged that the specimen is rendered of little or no value. By far the greater number fall to the clay ball of the blowpipe, which the Indians, and in some instances even Europeans, use with perfect certainty of aim. In Brazil very fine nets are employed for this purpose, but how 256 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1890. this engine is employed I am unable to state. Unfortunately for me many specimens of the fine species Cometes sparganurus* in my posses- sion have been obtained by means of birdlime, and this is evidently the way in which these birds are captured in the neighborhood of Chuquisaca." On account of the immense destruction of Humming Birds for the various ornamental purposes mentioned above, certain species are said to be on the verge of extinction. The wonder is that they are not long ago extinct, for the number of individuals which Lave been destroyed is simply beyond computation. Three thousand skins of the Euby-and- topaz Humming Bird (Ghrysolampis moschitus) alone are said to have been shipped from a Brazilian port in a single consignment, while at a public sale of bird skins, held in London, March 21, 1888, more than 12,000 Humming Bird skins were disposed of! And in one week during the same year, there were sold at auction in London 400,000 Hum- ming Birds, and other birds from North and South America, the former doubtless comprising a very considerable percentage of the whole number.t Surely this stupendous slaughter foreshadows the speedy exter- mination of many species. If it does not, what a commentary on the amazing wealth of bird-life in the tropics of America ! EARLY HISTORY.

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