lower elevations situated more to the eastward. These ranges are the sources o f numerous rivers, some
o f which have a northerly course, such as the Atrato, Cauca, and the great Magdalena, which debouch
into the Caribbean Sea, and the river Zulia, which empties itself into the Lake o f Maracaybo. Some o f
the very finest species yet discovered were collected near the town o f Pamplona, which is situated on the
banks o f the last-mentioned river. The country rouud Antioquia, situated on the lower, and Popayan on
the upper part o f the Cauca, appear also to be very rich in natural productions, and particularly so in
Humming-Birds. It is, however, on the paramos which surround Bogota, and on the luxuriantly-clad sides
of the valleys through which flows the main stream o f the Magdalena, that the greatest number o f species
have been discovered. Bogota, the capital o f this district, has for a long time been the centre whence
collections have been transmitted to Europe and the United States. The Indians have been initiated into
the modes o f preparing these lovely objects ; and as gain and excitement have thus gone hand in hand, this
part o f America may be said to have been thoroughly ransacked, and I expect that but few novelties remain
to be discovered therein. Now as most o f the productions that have yet reached us from Antioquia and
Pamplona, two districts lying in ahout the same parallel o f latitude on either side the great valley o f the
Magdalena, are quite distinct and different from those o f Bogota, we may safely infer that, if they were as
closely searched, many new species would be found. The country o f the Caraccas and Cumana have
Humming-Birds which partake less o f the characters o f the mountain species, and assimilate more closely
to those o f the Guianas and Northern Brazil. It will be seen, I think, from what I have here said, that
the species o f Humming-Birds increase in numbers as we proceed towards the equator; that most o f them
are confined to countries having peculiar physical characters; and that those o f New Granada differ considerably
from the Humming-Birds o f Veragua, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. I have observed an equally
marked difference in the species which inhabit the high lands giving rise to the rivers which run eastward;
I mean the many tributaries o f the Napo, the Caqueta or Japura, and the Amazon.
From the eastern side o f Chimborazo flow many streams which ultimately find their way into the Amazon;
and however numerous the species found in the elevated districts o f New Granada may be, I believe that
when the dense and luxuriant forests bordering these well-watered lands are fully investigated, the species
inhabiting them will be found far to exceed in number those o f every other district. Even the snowy
Chimborazo may be said to be inhabited by Humming-birds : certain it is that the Oreotrochilus Chimborazo
lives upon it just below the line o f perpetual congelation, some o f my specimens o f this bird killed by
M. Bourcier bearing on the attached labels an elevation o f 16,000 fe e t; and Mr. Fraser, I believe, killed
others in an equally elevated region. Here, then, is a bird which encounters the cold blasts o f these lofty
situations with impunity, dwelling in a world o f almost perpetual sleet, hail, and rain, and there feeding upon
the insects which resort to the Cliuquiraga insignis and other flowering plants peculiar to the situation.
These truly alpine birds have always a great charm with me ; and as the species just mentioned is especially
beautiful, it is o f course a great favourite. Besides Chimborazo, there exist many other cones o f but little
less elevation, such as Pichincha, Cotopaxi, and Cayambe, which, strange to say, are reported to be
frequented by species peculiar to each; and if this be the case, how many summits as yet untrodden may
reveal forms at present unknown to us ? Now what I have said with regard to the gradual increase o f
Humming-Bird life from the north to the equator may be equally said o f their increase towards the same
line from the south. The species there found, although quite different from those o f the north, perform
precisely the same functions, are subject to the same migratory movements, &c.
To the southward o f the equator, however, the species appear to be far less numerous. And it could
not be expected but that such would be the case when we consider the particular character of the country,—
the dry and sterile plains of Peru, the extensive pampas of La Plata, &c., being all unsuited to insect and
therefore to Humming-Bird life, and a diminution in their numbers the natural result. But this paucity in
numbers would seem to be compensated for, by the beauty of the individuals. Peru and Bolivia are the
cradles o f the splendid comet-tailed species o f the genus Cometes, the Lesbice, Diphlogmnx, the delicate
birds known as Thaumasturee, &c. These countries produce also the largest Humming-Bird yet known, the
Pa ta g ona g ig a s , which with an Oreotrochilus and a Eustephanus are all the species known to me from the
lengthened country of Chili. The little island called Chiloe, characterized by great humidity, is inhabited
by the common Chilian species last mentioned ; while the celebrated island of Juan Fernandez, over 300
miles from the mainland, is tenanted by three kinds, o f which two are so distinct from all others known,
that they cannot for a moment be confounded with any o f them. The three species, in fact, which people
this solitary spot in the wide Pacific are very different from each other; and I may mention that nothing
like a cross or intermixture has ever been observed, an event that might have been expected to occur here,
if ever it does among animals living in a state o f nature. Strange to say, these beautiful creatures are
almost the only examples o f bird life existing on this remarkable island. The knowledge o f the existence
o f these lovely flying gems gives an additional zest to the interest attached to the scene of the principal
events in Defoe’s charming tale.
In the foregoing pages I have glanced at the species of Humming-Birds inhabiting the great range of
mountains running north and south through many degrees o f latitude on both sides of the equator.
Whole genera o f the Trochilidse are found there, and there alone. In the high lands of Mexico, among others
we find the peculiar genera D e la ttria , Selasphorus, and Calypte. On crossing the ribbon-like strip of land
called the Isthmus o f Panama, we enter upon a region of high lands bearing the genera Oxypogon, Lafresnaya,
Bourcieria, D o ry fe ra , Helianthea, Heliangelus, Eriocnemis, Lesbia, Cynanthus, A g lx a c tis , Metallura, Ram-
phomicron, and many others, none o f which are found in the less-elevated countries o f Brazil, the Guianas,
or the West Indian Islands. It is true that these countries, particularly Brazil, possess forms o f Humming-
Birds which are now and then feebly represented in the Andes; but these cases are quite exceptional.
When we leave the Andes we bid adieu to the finest, the largest, and the most gorgeously attired species.
Other beautiful kinds do here and there exist in Brazil, such as the Chrysolampis moschitus, the Topaza Pella,
and the Lophornithes; but the greater number are comparatively small and inconspicuous. Of the members
o f the genus Phaethornis, a group o f Humming-Birds, popularly known by the name of Hermits, from their
frequenting the darkest and most retired parts o f the forest, three-fourths are natives of Brazil. The great
forest-covered delta o f the Amazon, where palms are numerous, seems to be particularly unfavourable to
the Trochilidse, since from Para to Ega there are scarcely ten species o f the family to be met with.
In this cursory glance at the distribution o f this family o f Birds, those frequenting the West Indian
Islands have yet to be noticed; and here not only do we find some peculiar to those islands as a whole, but
in each o f them, with but very few exceptions, there are species and even genera which are not found m
the Andes, the other islands, or the more contiguous flat parts of the South American Continent. Cuba
has at least three, one o f which is a most lovely little bird. The principal island o f the Bahaman group is
in like manner favoured with a charming Calothorax, which Dr. Bryant tells us flies in great numbers round
the town of Nassau; yet the bird does not, I believe, inhabit any of the other islands or the mainland.