slender bill is notched in a saw-like fashion on the edges of both mandibles. These serrations do not reach along the whole bill but only to a short distance from the tip. In appearance it is not so strikingly beautiful as many of the humming birds, and is chiefly remarkable for its reddish throat dotted with white, and having a black mark down its centre. There are several humming birds which have the serrated edges to the mandibles, and are in consequence called Sawbills, but the present species is the most worthy of notice with respect to its nest. It is only found in the south of Brazil.

The nest of the Sawbill is made of fine vegetable fibres, woven together so as to look like an open network purse, the outer walls being so loosely made as to permit the eggs and lining to be visible. Leaves, mosses, and lichens are also woven into the nest, and are packed rather tightly under the eggs. The edge, however, is always left loose. The nest is suspended at the end of some leaf, usually that of the palm.

Mr. Gould mentions that the bird is found in the depths of virgin forests, and is most plentiful about thirty miles from Nova Fribergo, in the months of July, August, September, and part of October. It is generally seen darting round the orchidaceous plants which flower so richly in that fertile climate, and is a rather noisy bird, uttering loud and piercing cries, and making a great whirring sound with its wings as it dashes through the air. It is very strong and energetic on the wing, and is seldom seen to alight. That the Sawbill feeds on insects has been satisfactorily proved, by the presence of small beetles in the throat of newly killed birds; and to judge by its actions, the hovering flight and frequent stoop like that of the falcon, the bird feeds. also on flies and other winged insects.

ALTHOUGH it is necessarily impossible to describe or even enumerate one tithe of the interesting nests made by humming birds, I must cursorily mention one or two more of the most curious examples. One of these birds is the BRAZILIAN WOOD NYMPH (Thalurania glaucopis), a species which is perhaps more persecuted than any other, its singular beauty causing its plumage to be sought after.

The feather on the crown of the head and front of the throat are of the most lovely azure, and are largely used by the inmates of several convents at Rio Janeiro for the purpose of being made into the beautiful feather flowers which the nuns manufacture so skilfully. Thousands of these birds are slaughtered merely for the crest and gorget, but so prolific are they, and so ingeniously do they hide their nests, that the persecution of many years has scarcely diminished their numbers. Moreover, fortunately for the preservation of the species, the colours of the female are so dull and sober, that her feathers are of no value, and she is allowed to escape the fate that befalls the more brightly coloured male. It is a lively little bird, and when alarmed utters a hurried cry, sounding like the word, " Pip, pip, pip," very sharply pronounced.

The nest of the Brazilian Wood Nymph is exceedingly pretty, and is hung to the tip of some delicate twig, generally that of one of the creeping plants which trail their long stems so luxuriantly over the branches of the great forest trees. The walls of the nest are made of vegetable fibres, generally taken from the

fruit of some palm, and upon the outside are fastened many patches of flat lichen, so that the whole nest, which is very long in proportion to its width, may easily escape detection.

THE second species is to be found in every collection of humming birds, and even the glass cases of these creatures which are sold in the shops, are seldom without a specimen of the RUBY AND TOPAZ HUMMING BIRD (Chrysolampis moschitus). It derives its name from the rich ruby red which decorates the crown of the head, and the fiery topaz which blazes on the gorget. This species has a very wide range of residence, being found throughout Bahia, all the Guianas, Trinidad, and the Caraccas, and is killed by thousands for the sake of its plumage. I was about to say for the sake of its skin, but as that expression would imply that the humming birds seen in cases are all skinned and stuffed it cannot be rightly used.

A stuffed humming bird is very seldom seen, though thousands are annually sold under that name. In fact, the birds are so tiny, and the amount of flesh is so small, that very few persons care to take the trouble and run the risk of skinning such minute creatures, and content themselves with removing the inside, supplying its place with cotton, inserting wires, as is customary in birds stuffed according to the present fashion, fixing the birds in appropriate attitudes, and then drying them, trusting to the feathers to cover deficiencies. Of course the soft and rounded contours are lost by so rough a process, but as the general public that buys stuffed birds is too uncritical to perceive such defects, and too indifferent to trouble themselves about them, even when pointed out, the professional taxidermists have no inducement to waste their time upon tedious and unremunerative work.

WE now leave the Humming Birds, and pass to other inhabitants of America.

Still keeping to Brazil, we come upon another pensile bird, called the AZURE CŒREBA (Cœreba cyanea). This beautiful little creature scarcely yields to any of the gorgeous humming birds in the glory of its plumage, and far exceeds many of them. in the fiery brilliance of its hues. Blue is the chief colour in this Coreba, and, strange to say, different qualities of blue are found in the same bird, without jarring with each other, so

wonderfully are they dispersed and so artistically are the various shades separated by velvet-black stripes and patches. The greater part of the body is rich azure, with the exception of a velvet-black stripe that runs round the crown of the head, and widens into a patch on the back of the neck. The quill-feathers of the wing are also black, and a black streak is drawn from the corner of the mouth to the neck, enveloping the eye in its

course.

Separated from the azure blue of the body by the black streak just mentioned, a large patch of feathers on the top of the head glows and flashes with metallic splendour, and is of a vivid verditer blue.

The nest of the Azure Coreba is pear-shaped in form, the hollow for the eggs and young being in the large rounded portion, and the slender part of the pear representing the "tail" of the nest, which is long and slender, like that of many birds which have already been mentioned, except that instead of being solid and pointed, it is hollow and has the opening to the nest in the extremity. In order, therefore, to reach the nest proper, the bird is obliged to enter from below and climb up the hollow shaft, as is the case with some of the African weaver birds. The substances of which the nest is made are long vegetable fibres and slender grasses, and the manner in which these simple materials are woven into so beautiful a nest is remarkably ingenious, and may challenge comparison with the architecture of any other bird.

The Azure Coreba is a small bird, about the size of our sparrow, but with a long, slender, and slightly-curved beak, as is mostly the case with the large and important family to which it belongs. It feeds chiefly on insects, and may be seen busily engaged among the flowers of its native land, flitting from one blossom to another, and daintily extracting the minute insects that endeavour to conceal themselves within the recesses of the petals.

STILL keeping to America, we may see more examples of pensile nests. Two differently-shaped specimens are given in the accompanying illustration, in order that they may be compared with each other.

The first in order is that of the BALTIMORE ORIOLE (Yphuntes

Baltimore), a pretty bird, coloured with orange and black in bold contrast to each other. Its name is derived, not from any particular locality, but from the orange and black of its plumage, those being the heraldic colours of Lord Baltimore, formerly proprietor of Baltimore. It does not receive the full colouring until its third year, the orange hues being simply yellow at the

end of the second year, and having no red in them until the last moult is completed. So far, indeed, is it from belonging to any particular locality, that it is spread over a very wide range. of country, inhabiting the whole of America from Canada to Brazil. The Baltimore Oriole goes by many names; some, such as Golden Robin and Fire Bird being in allusion to its plumage,