They the odorous groves of the Orient Isles, And the Hindoostan gardens, e'er greet with their smiles. name of HUMMING-BIRDS, or, to anglicize a Vigorsean term, TROCHILIDS. They are now, it seems, called in this country by the trite name of SUNBIRDS. By whom this term was first applied, or for what reason, I do not know, but presume from the splendour of their colours. One of their characteristics (besides of course being Tenuirosts) is that of feeding on the nectar of flowers. The genus Cinnyris is included in TEMMINCK's Nectarinia.* I have not been able to obtain so satisfactory an account of it as I could wish. The following species I, however, find described in Dr. LATHAM's great work.

The Longirostra, (LINN. TRANSACT. vol. xiv.) Certhia Longirostra, (Lath.) or LONG-BILLED-CREEPER, is five inches long, the bill an inch and half; the tongue is long and missile; crown and back behind light green; back, wings, and tail, dusky, edged with olive green; neck before, and breast, white; belly and vent pale yellow; legs bluish. Found in Bengal, where it perches on the rich flowers of Indian plants, and darting its tongue into the calyx extracts the sweets. Inhabits also Java, where it is called Prist Andun. The Java species is larger and more brightly coloured.

The Affinis (LINN. TRANSACT, vol. xiii.) Anthophagus Oliva

* Since this volume has been in the press, my attention has been called to the splendid work of M. TEMMINCK on BIRDS, now publishing at Paris in large folio, with finely executed engravings, accurately and most carefully delineated, and coloured after nature. This work is esteemed by our ornithologsts as a very valuable addition to the science: as far as I have had an opportunity of examining it, I can hear my willing testimony to its merits, particularly in regard to the engravings. The Manual of Ornithology of this author is, of course, well known to the scientific. Both works are written in the French language.

From the Papuan Isles in magnificence bright, Came the PARADISE BIRDS (5) at once lustrous and light;

ceus, (Lath.) OLIVE-HONEY-EATER, or Olive-Creeper, is four inches long; bill half an inch long, black; plumage above dull olive-green, inclining to brown on the forehead and crown; beneath grey-brown; around the eyes whitish; quills and tail brown, with an olive-green tinge; the two outer feathers white at the ends; legs pale brown. Inhabits Madagascar and Java. Individuals found in the last-named place are olive, variegated beneath with dull brown-grey; outer tail feathers white at the ends.

Many others of this tribe of birds have been exhibited, by far more splendid and smaller than these; but I have at present no means of obtaining an accurate description of them.

(5) ORDER, PICÆ, (Linn.) BIRDS OF PARADISE.

The genus PARADISEA, (Linn.) or BIRD-OF-Paradise, consists of twenty species; the bill is covered with a belt of downy feathers at the base; feathers of the sides very long'; two of the tail feathers naked. They are inhabitants of New Guinea, the Papuan Islands, or Islands of the Indian ocean. The following are some of the most remarkable. The habits of this tribe of birds do not, however, appear to be yet very accurately known.

The Apoda, or GREATER-PARADISE-BIRD, is of a chesnut colour; neck beneath green gold; feathers on the sides longer than the body; two middle tail feathers long, bristly. Another variety of a smaller size. Inhabits the islands near New Guinea; feeds, it is said, on moths and butterflies; flies, it is also reported, in flocks, with a leader at the head, making a poise like the thrush. The strangest and most

Of whom hath cupidity artful and bold,

Yet in mystery's cant, many falsities told.

improbable tales were formerly related concerning this bird. Thus sings CAMOENS:

"The golden birds that ever sail the skies,

Here to the sun display their shining dyes;

Each want supplied on air they ever soar;

The ground they touch not till they breathe no more."
The LUSIAD, by Mickle.

From their food being moths and butterflies, and, perhaps, the nectar of flowers, they are doubtless a good deal on the wing; but there appears no reason whatever to suppose that their mauner of incubation and resting is different from other birds.

The most remarkable features of this species are about forty or fifty long feathers, which spring from each side below the wing, and, mingling below the tail, augment the apparent size of the animal, without adding any thing to its weight. It is about the size of a thrush, but its feathers make it appear much larger than that bird. In some parts of India, the feathers fetch a great price, being worn as ornaments of dress.

These birds were formerly brought to this country without feet, the policy of the foreign dealers in them most probably in. duced the abstraction of those signs which lead very often to the habits and manners of the bird. Hence also the more ready belief in the tales propagated concerning them; and hence, too, the specific name Apoda, without feet, very improperly applied to these birds by European naturalists.

The Regia, or KING-of-the-Birds-of-ParadiSE, is a chesnut-purple, beneath whitish; a green-gold band on the breast; from five to seven inches long; solitary. Inhabits the same countries as the last.

The HONEY-GUIDE-CUCKOO, from Africa came;

The FLAMINGO (6) look'd gay in his garments of flame.

(6) Order, GRALLÆ, (Linn.) FLAMINGO, the RED, the CHILESE.

The genus PHONICOPTERUS, (Linn.) or FLAMINGO, consists of two species distinguished by having a naked toothed bill, bent as if broken; the feet are four-toed, palmate, the membranes semicircular on the forepart.

The Ruber, FLAMINGO, or Red-Flamingo, is a very remarkable bird, with a body less than that of a goose; but when erect, is six feet high from the tip of the toe to the bill, which is seven inches long, partly red, partly black, and partly crooked; it perpetually twists its head round when eating, so that the upper mandible touches the ground. The legs and thighs are slender, not thicker than the fore-finger of a man, yet two feet long; the neck is also slender, and three feet long. From this extraordinary shape, it is able to wade in water to the depth where its food is to be found. The feet are webbed, though it seldom uses them for swimming. Length from bill to tail four feet four inches. The plumage is not less remarkable than its fignre, much of it being of a bright flame-colour, whence its name. Found both in the new and old continents, but in not more than about forty degrees either north or south from the equator. It is found on almost every shore of the Mediterranean-Spain, Italy, &c.; and in every district of Africa, to the Cape of Good Hope; in South America, and the West Indies. The nest is made of earth, rising about twenty inches above the water, which always covers its base; the top of this is a little hollowed out for the reception of the eggs, which are two, white, size of a goose's, upon which the female sits and hatches, perched, as it were, upon her rump, with her legs hanging down like a man sitting upon a stool. This peculiar posture is ne cessary during her incubation, in consequence of the very great length of the legs. The young never exceed three in number.

The TAYLOR-BIRD, (7) too, left his leafy sew'd nest,
To
pay his respects to the KING of the WEST;

These birds are gregarious, and are occasionally tamed in their native climates, and mingle with other poultry, but they never thrive in such a state. They afford a fine down, equal to swan's down; flesh, by some persons, esteemed.

The negroes of Africa hold this bird in superstitious venera. tion; hence they do not permit it to be destroyed, although, from its numbers and its noise, it is extremely troublesome. It feeds on shell-fish, aquatic insects, and the spawn of fish.

The Flamingo was well known to the ancients under the name of Phoenicopterus; its flesh was a dish among the luxurious Romans; Apicius is said by PLINY to have discovered the exquisite relish of this bird's tongue, and a new method of seasoning it!

"Evening came on: arising from the stream
Homeward the tall Flamingo wings his flight;
And when he sails athwart the setting beam
His scarlet plumage glows with deeper light !” ·

SOUTHEY'S Curse of Kehumu-the Separation.

I take the present opportunity of expressing the great pleasure which the perusal of that highly imaginative and melodious poem, the Curse of Kehuma, has afforded me.

The Chilensis, or CHILESE-FLAMINGO, has the quill feathers white; bill covered with a reddish skin; head subcrested; five feet long from the bill to the claws. Inhabits Chili.

(7) ORDER, PASSERES, (Linn.) TAYLOR-BIRD.

The TAYLOR-BIRD, Taylor-Wren, Taylor-Warbler, Motacilla Sutoria, (Linn.) or Sylvia Sutoria, as it is called by Dr. LATHAM, one of the numerous genus WARBLER, is a very small bird, being only about three inches and a half in length, and weighs only about, it is said, three sixteenths of an ounce; the plumage above is pale olive-yellow; chin and throat yellow;

"