When frightened by
any person, it will remain motionless at the bottom of a bush,
and will then, after a little while, try with much address to
crawl away on the opposite side.
It is also an active bird, and
continually making a noise: these noises are various and
strangely odd; some are like the cooing of doves, others like
the bubbling of water, and many defy all similes. The country
people say it changes its cry five times in the year -
according to some change of season, I suppose. [4]
Two species of humming-birds are common; Trochilus
forficatus is found over a space of 2500 miles on the west
coast, from the hot dry country of Lima, to the forests of
Tierra del Fuego - where it may be seen flitting about in
snow-storms. In the wooded island of Chiloe, which has an
extremely humid climate, this little bird, skipping from side
to side amidst the dripping foliage, is perhaps more abundant
than almost any other kind. I opened the stomachs of several
specimens, shot in different parts of the continent, and in all,
remains of insects were as numerous as in the stomach of a
creeper. When this species migrates in the summer southward,
it is replaced by the arrival of another species coming
from the north. This second kind (Trochilus gigas) is a
very large bird for the delicate family to which it belongs:
when on the wing its appearance is singular. Like others
of the genus, it moves from place to place with a rapidity
which may be compared to that of Syrphus amongst flies,
and Sphinx among moths; but whilst hovering over a flower,
it flaps its wings with a very slow and powerful movement,
totally different from that vibratory one common to most of
the species, which produces the humming noise. I never saw
any other bird where the force of its wings appeared (as in a
butterfly) so powerful in proportion to the weight of its body.
When hovering by a flower, its tail is constantly expanded
and shut like a fan, the body being kept in a nearly vertical
position. This action appears to steady and support the bird,
between the slow movements of its wings. Although flying
from flower to flower in search of food, its stomach generally
contained abundant remains of insects, which I suspect are
much more the object of its search than honey. The note of
this species, like that of nearly the whole family, is
extremely shrill.
[1] Caldeleugh, in Philosoph. Transact. for 1836.
[2] Annales des Sciences Naturelles, March, 1833. M. Gay, a
zealous and able naturalist, was then occupied in studying
every branch of natural history throughout the kingdom of
Chile.
[3] Burchess's Travels, vol. ii. p. 45.
[4] It is a remarkable fact, that Molina, though describing
in detail all the birds and animals of Chile, never once
mentions this genus, the species of which are so common, and
so remarkable in their habits.
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