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KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension
ANS: T
A project requires resources, often from various areas. Resources, however, are limited and must be
used effectively to meet project and other corporate goals.
ANS: F
A project sponsor usually provides the direction and funding for a project.
7. One of the main reasons why project management is challenging is because of the factor of
uncertainty.
ANS: T
A project involves uncertainty. Every project is unique and thus it is sometimes difficult to define its
objectives clearly, estimate how long it will take to complete, or determine how much it will cost. This
uncertainty is one of the main reasons project management is so challenging.
8. Questions about how a team will track schedule performance is related to a project’s scope.
ANS: F
Project scope deals with questions such as, “What work will be done as part of the project?”, “What
unique product, service, or result does the customer or sponsor expect from the project?”, or “How will
the scope be verified?”
9. In order to be realistic, a project manager should always set discrete goals instead of a range of
objectives.
ANS: F
Projects involve uncertainty and limited resources. Thus they rarely finish according to their original
scope, time, and cost goals. Instead of discrete target goals, it is often more realistic to set a range of
goals.
10. Managing the triple constraint primarily involves making trade-offs between resources and quality.
ANS: F
Managing the triple constraint involves making trade-offs between scope, time, and cost goals for a
project. Experienced project managers know that one must decide which aspect of the triple constraint
is most important.
11. The only responsibility of a project manager is to meet the specific scope, time, and cost goals of a
project.
ANS: F
Project managers must strive not only to meet specific scope, time, cost, and quality goals of projects
but also facilitate the entire process to meet the needs and expectations of people involved in project
activities or affected by them.
ANS: T
Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities, and include the project
sponsor, project team, support staff, customers, users, suppliers, and even opponents of a project.
ANS: F
Stakeholders are the people involved in or affected by project activities, and include the project
sponsor, project team, support staff, customers, users, suppliers, and even opponents of a project.
14. The importance of stakeholders’ needs and expectations is limited to the beginning of a project.
ANS: F
Stakeholders’ needs and expectations are important in the beginning and throughout the life of a
project. Successful project managers develop good relationships with project stakeholders to
understand and meet their needs and expectations.
15. Project procurement management primarily involves identifying stakeholder needs while managing
their engagement throughout the life of the project.
ANS: F
Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop. Project procurement management involves acquiring or procuring goods and services for a
project from outside the performing organization.
16. The primary role of project stakeholder management is to ensure that the project will satisfy the stated
needs for which it was undertaken.
ANS: F
Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop. Project stakeholder management includes identifying and analyzing stakeholder needs while
managing and controlling their engagement throughout the life of the product.
17. Project human resource management is concerned with making effective use of the people involved
with a project.
ANS: T
Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop. Project human resource management is concerned with making effective use of the people
involved with the project.
18. Stakeholder analyses, work requests, and project charters are tools used in integration management.
ANS: T
Project selection methods, project management methodologies, stakeholder analyses, work requests,
and project charters are some of the tools used in integration management.
19. Earned value management is a tool primarily used in human resource management.
ANS: F
Project budgets, net present value, return on investment, payback analysis, and earned value
management are tools used in cost management.
PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Easy REF: p.13
OBJ: LO: 1-3 NAT: BUSPROG: Technology
TOP: What is Project Management? KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge
20. Responsibility assignment matrices and project organizational charts are examples of tools used in
procurement management.
ANS: F
Motivation techniques, empathic listening, responsibility assignment matrices, project organizational
charts, and team building exercises are tools used in human resource management.
21. Maturity models, statistical methods, and test plans are examples of tools used in quality management.
ANS: T
Quality metrics, maturity models, statistical methods, and test plans are some of the tools used in
quality management.
22. Project managers work with the project sponsors to define success for particular projects.
ANS: T
Project managers work with the project sponsors, the project team, and other stakeholders to meet
project goals. They also work with sponsors to define success for particular projects.
23. Good project managers assume that their definition of success is the same as the sponsors.
ANS: F
Good project managers do not assume that their definition of success is the same as the sponsors. They
take the time to understand their sponsors’ expectations and then track project performance based on
important success criteria.
ANS: T
Program managers are responsible for more than the delivery of project results. They are change
agents responsible for the success of products and processes developed by these projects.
25. Effective program managers recognize that managing a project is much more complex than managing
a program.
ANS: F
Effective program managers recognize that managing a program is much more complex than
managing a single project.
26. Individual projects always address strategic goals whereas portfolio management addresses tactical
goals.
ANS: F
Tactical goals are generally more specific and short-term than strategic goals, which emphasize long-
term goals for an organization. Individual projects often address tactical goals, whereas portfolio
management addresses strategic goals.
27. It is mandatory for project managers working on large information technology projects to be experts in
the field of information technology.
ANS: F
Project managers for large IT projects do not have to be experts in the field of IT, but they must have
working knowledge of various technologies and understand how the project would enhance the
business.
28. To be a successful manager, the only skills an IT project manager needs to possess is excellent
technical skills.
ANS: F
IT project managers must be willing to develop more than their technical skills to be productive team
members and successful project managers. Everyone, no matter how technical they are, should
develop business and soft skills.
29. The introduction of new software makes basic tools, such as Gantt charts and network diagrams,
inexpensive and easy to create.
ANS: T
As computer hardware became smaller and more affordable and software companies
developed graphical, easy-to-use interfaces, project management software became
less expensive and more widely used. New software makes basic tools such as Gantt charts and
network diagrams inexpensive, easy to create, and available for anyone to update.
30. The enterprise project management software, which aids project and portfolio management, is a low-
end tool.
ANS: F
A category of project management software is high-end tools, sometimes referred to as enterprise
project management software. These tools provide robust capabilities to handle very large projects and
dispersed workgroups.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
4. Galaxy, a construction company, buys a particular brand of tiles manufactured by Tiles and Floors, an
eco-friendly tile manufacturing company. However, Tiles and Floors has declared bankruptcy and
closed down. At present, Galaxy is facing a crisis because there are no other manufacturers in the
market that supplies eco-friendly tiles. Which of the following constraints is Galaxy currently facing?
a. Resources c. Scope
b. Time d. Cost
ANS: A
Every project is constrained in different ways. For some projects, resources are the main concern.
6. Project _____ management involves defining and managing all the work required to complete the
project successfully.
a. human resource c. time
b. scope d. cost
ANS: B
Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop. Project scope management involves defining and managing all the work required to complete
the project successfully.
7. Project _____ management ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or implied needs for which it
was undertaken.
a. cost c. risk
b. time d. quality
ANS: D
Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop. Project quality management ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or implied needs
for which it was undertaken.
8. Which of the following project management knowledge areas primarily involve generating, collecting,
disseminating, and storing project information?
a. Project cost management c. Project time management
b. Project procurement management d. Project communications management
ANS: D
Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop. Project communications management involves generating, collecting, disseminating, and
storing project information.
10. Which of the following project management knowledge areas is an overarching function that affects
and is affected by the different knowledge areas?
a. Project cost management c. Project integration management
b. Project stakeholder management d. Project communications management
ANS: C
Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers must
develop. Project integration management is an overarching function that affects and is affected by all
of the other knowledge areas.
12. Which of the following tools are most likely to be used in project time management?
a. Payback analysis c. Gantt charts
b. Impact matrices d. Fishbone diagrams
ANS: C
Time management uses Gantt charts, project network diagrams, critical path analysis, crashing, fast
tracking, and schedule performance measurements.
14. In which of the following areas of management is payback analysis most likely to be used?
a. Human resource c. Cost
b. Communication d. Quality
ANS: C
Tools used in cost management include payback analysis, earned value management, project portfolio
management, and cost estimates among others.
16. Team building exercises and motivation techniques are tools used in _____ management.
a. procurement c. human resource
b. scope d. cost
ANS: C
Motivation techniques, empathic listening, resource histograms, and team building exercises are tools
used in human resource management.
17. Which of the following tools can best help in efficient communication management?
a. Kick-off meetings c. Requests for quotes
b. Impact matrices d. Fast tracking
ANS: A
Kick-off meetings are an important tool in project communication management. Other tools in
project communication management are communications management plans, conflict management,
communications media selection, and progress reports.
21. Which of the following is a difference between project management and portfolio
management?
a. Project management involves making wise c. Portfolio management asks questions like,
investment decisions whereas portfolio “Are we carrying out projects efficiently?”
management does not. whereas project management asks
questions such as “Are we investing in the
right areas?”
b. Portfolio management is an easy task d. Project management addresses specific,
whereas project management is a more short-term goals whereas portfolio
difficult task. management focuses on long-term goals.
ANS: D
Individual projects often address tactical goals, whereas portfolio management addresses strategic
goals. Tactical goals are generally more specific and short-term than strategic goals.
23. Which of the following questions reflect the strategic goals of project portfolio management?
a. Are we carrying out projects well? c. Are we investing in the right areas?
b. Are projects on time and on budget? d. Do stakeholders know what they should
be doing?
ANS: C
The strategic goals of project portfolio management raise questions such as “Are we working on the
right projects?”, “Are we investing in the right areas?”, and “Do we have the right resources to be
competitive?”
24. Martha works as a project manager at a bank. Due to certain changes in external factors, Martha needs
to make a few alterations in the tactical goals of her project. In such a scenario, which of the following
will best help Martha cope with the change?
a. Negotiation
b. Project environment knowledge
c. Motivation
d. Soft skills
ANS: B
The project environment differs from organization to organization and project to project, but some
skills will help in almost all project environments. These skills include understanding change and
understanding how organizations work within their social, political, and physical environments.
Project managers must be comfortable leading and handling change, because most projects introduce
changes in organizations and involve changes within the projects themselves.
25. Joe is a project manager in an IT company and has over the years, gained substantial knowledge in his
area of work. However, while managing his team, he often loses his temper. In addition, he fails to be
an active listener when his team members approach him with work related challenges. In which of the
following areas does Joe need to develop his skills in?
a. Application area knowledge
b. Project environment knowledge
c. Standards and regulations
d. Human relations skills
ANS: D
Achieving high performance on projects requires soft skills, otherwise called human
relations skills. Project managers need good soft skills to understand, navigate, and meet stakeholders’
needs and expectations. They need to be able to listen actively to what others are saying, help develop
new approaches for solving problems, and then persuade others to work toward achieving project
goals.
27. A Gantt chart is a standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project
activities and their corresponding start and finish dates in a ____ format.
a. calendar c. bar graph
b. line graph d. pie chart
ANS: A
A Gantt chart was developed by Henry Gantt for scheduling work in factories. A Gantt chart is a
standard format for displaying project schedule information by listing project activities and their
corresponding start and finish dates in calendar form.
29. A _____ is an organizational group responsible for coordinating the project management function
throughout an organization.
a. Project Management Office c. Project Management Center
b. Project Management Professional d. Portfolio Group
ANS: A
In the 1990s, many companies began creating Project Management Offices to help them handle the
increasing number and complexity of projects. A Project Management Office (PMO) is an
organizational group responsible for coordinating the project management function throughout an
organization.
31. Which of the following refers to a set of principles that guides decision making based on personal
values of what is considered right and wrong?
a. Ethics c. Laws
b. Civics d. Politics
ANS: A
Ethics is a set of principles that guides decision making based on personal values of what is considered
right and wrong. Making ethical decisions is an important part of project managers’ personal and
professional lives because it generates trust and respect with other people.
32. Which of the following is true of low-end tools of the project management software?
a. They are designed for especially large c. They provide basic project management
projects with multiple users. features.
b. Their main advantage is that they have d. They are referred to as an enterprise
unlimited functionality. project management software.
ANS: C
In a project management software, low-end tools provide basic project management features and are
often recommended for small projects and single users.
33. Which of the following types of tools is usually recommended for small projects and single users?
a. Low-end c. High-end
b. Midrange d. Upper range
ANS: A
Low-end tools provide basic project management features and generally cost less than $200 per user
They are often recommended for small projects and single users.
35. Which of the following is a difference between low-end and midrange tools of the project management
software?
a. Low-end tools are designed to handle c. Midrange tools provide basic project
primarily multiple users whereas midrange management features whereas low-end
tools are created to handle single users. tools offer enterprise and portfolio
management functions.
b. Low-end tools provide robust capabilities d. Midrange tools are designed to handle
to handle dispersed workgroups whereas larger projects than low-end tools.
midrange tools do not.
ANS: D
In a project management software, midrange tools is a step up from low-end tools. They are designed
to handle larger projects, multiple users, and multiple projects.
COMPLETION
1. Until the 1980s, project management primarily focused on providing _____ and resource data to top
management in the military, computer, and construction industries.
ANS: schedule
2. A(n) _____ is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.
ANS: project
ANS: Operations
PTS: 1 DIF: Difficulty: Easy REF: p.4
OBJ: LO: 1-2 NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic TOP: What is a Project?
KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge
ANS: Resources
6. In project management, the three limitations of scope, time, and cost are referred to as the _____.
7. The question, “What unique product does the customer expect from the project?” is an example of a(n)
_____ constraint.
ANS: scope
8. The question, “What is the project’s schedule?” is an example of a(n) _____ constraint.
ANS: time
ANS: cost
11. _____ is “the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet
project requirements.”
12. Project management _____ describe the key competencies that project managers must develop.
13. Project _____ management includes estimating how long it will take to complete work, develop an
acceptable project schedule, and ensure timely completion of a project.
ANS: time
14. Project _____ management consists of preparing and managing the budget for a project.
ANS: cost
15. A(n) _____ is “a group of related projects managed in a coordinated way to obtain benefits and control
not available from managing them individually.”
ANS: program
16. _____ refers to the process in which organizations group and manage projects and programs as a
cluster of investments that contribute to the entire enterprise’s success.
ANS: Project portfolio management
17. The _____ software integrates information from multiple projects to show the status of active,
approved, and future projects across an entire organization.
19. The critical path is the _____ path through a network diagram that determines the earliest completion
of a project.
ANS: longest
20. The _____ is an international professional society for project managers founded in 1969.
21. Passing the CPA exam is a standard for accountants. Similarly, passing the PMP exam is becoming a
standard for _____.
22. Ethics is a set of principles that guides decision making based on _____ of what is considered right
and wrong.
23. _____ tools, a step up from low-end tools, are designed to handle larger projects, multiple users, and
multiple projects.
ANS: Midrange
24. High-end tools in project management software have enterprise and _____ functions that summarize
and combine individual project information to provide an enterprise view of all projects.
ANS: per-user
ESSAY
1. Describe the triple constraint. What are the three components and what is the relationship between
them?
ANS:
Every project is constrained in different ways by its scope, time, and cost goals. These limitations are
sometimes referred to in project management as the triple constraint. To create a successful project, a
project manager must consider scope, time, and cost and balance these three often-competing goals.
He or she must consider the following:
Scope: This goal involves questions such as, “What work will be done as part of the project? What
unique product, service, or result does the customer or sponsor expect from the project? How will the
scope be verified?”
Time: This goal encompasses questions such as, “How long should it take to complete the project?
What is the project’s schedule? How will the team track actual schedule performance? Who can
approve changes to the schedule?”
Cost: This goals deals with questions such as, “What should it cost to complete the project? What is
the project’s budget? How will costs be tracked? Who can authorize changes to the budget?”
Managing the triple constraint involves making trade-offs between scope, time, and cost goals for a
project. Experienced project managers know that they must decide which aspect of the triple constraint
is most important. If time is most important, one must change the initial scope and/or cost goals to
meet the schedule. If scope goals are most important, one may need to adjust time and/or cost goals.
2. List and describe each of the ten project management knowledge areas.
ANS:
Project management knowledge areas describe the key competencies that project managers
must develop. These are as follows:
(1) Project scope management involves defining and managing all the work required to complete the
project successfully.
(2) Project time management includes estimating how long it will take to complete the work,
developing an acceptable project schedule, and ensuring timely completion of the project.
(3) Project cost management consists of preparing and managing the budget for the project.
(4) Project quality management ensures that the project will satisfy the stated or implied needs for
which it was undertaken.
(5) Project human resource management is concerned with making effective use of the people
involved with the project.
(6) Project communications management involves generating, collecting, disseminating, and storing
project information.
(7) Project risk management includes identifying, analyzing, and responding to risks related to the
project.
(8) Project procurement management involves acquiring or procuring goods and services for a project
from outside the performing organization.
(9) Project stakeholder management includes identifying and analyzing stakeholder needs while
managing and controlling their engagement throughout the life of the project.
(10) Project integration management is an overarching function that affects and is affected by all of the
other knowledge areas.
ANS:
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we are unconsciously arrested to admire and listen. The smaller
wood consists largely of the plant called Glass-eye berry, a
Scrophularious shrub, the blossoms of which, though presenting little
beauty in form or hue, are pre-eminently attractive to the Long-
tailed Humming-bird. These bushes are at no part of the year out of
blossom, the scarlet berries appearing at all seasons on the same
stalk as the flowers. And here at any time one may with tolerable
certainty calculate on finding these very lovely birds. But it is in
March, April, and May, that they abound: I suppose I have
sometimes seen not fewer than a hundred come successively to rifle
the blossoms within the space of half as many yards in the course of
a forenoon. They are, however, in no respect gregarious; though
three or four may be at one moment hovering round the blossoms of
the same bush, there is no association; each is governed by his
individual preference, and each attends to his own affairs. It is
worthy of remark that males compose by far the greater portion of
the individuals observed at this elevation. I do not know why it
should be so, but we see very few females there, whereas in the
lowlands this sex outnumbers the other. In March, a large number
are found to be clad in the livery of the adult male, but without long
tail-feathers; others have the characteristic feathers lengthened, but
in various degrees. These are, I have no doubt, males of the
preceding season. It is also quite common to find one of the long
feathers much shorter than the other; which I account for by
concluding that the shorter is replacing one that had been
accidentally lost. In their aerial encounters with each other, a tail-
feather is sometimes displaced. One day several of these “young
bloods” being together, a regular tumult ensued, somewhat similar
to a sparrow-fight:—such twittering, and fluttering, and dartings
hither and thither! I could not exactly make out the matter, but
suspected that it was mainly an attack, (surely a most ungallant one,
if so) made by these upon two females of the same species, that
were sucking at the same bush. These were certainly in the
skirmish, but the evolutions were too rapid to be certain how the
battle went.
The whirring made by the vibrating wings of the male Polytmus is
a shriller sound than that produced by the female, and indicates its
proximity before the eye has detected it. The male almost constantly
utters a monotonous quick chirp, both while resting on a twig, and
while sucking from flower to flower. They do not invariably probe
flowers upon the wing; one may frequently observe them thus
engaged, when alighted and sitting with closed wings, and often
they partially sustain themselves by clinging with the feet to a leaf
while sucking, the wings being expanded, and vibrating.
The Humming-birds in Jamaica do not confine themselves to any
particular season for nidification. In almost every month of the year I
have either found, or have had brought to me, the nests of Polytmus
in occupation. Still as far as my experience goes, they are most
numerous in June; while Mr. Hill considers January as the most
normal period. It is not improbable that two broods are reared in a
season. In the latter part of February, a friend showed me a nest of
this species in a singular situation, but which I afterwards found to
be quite in accordance with its usual habits. It was at Bognie,
situated on the Bluefields mountain, but at some distance from the
scene above described. About a quarter of a mile within the woods,
a blind path, choked up with bushes, descends suddenly beneath an
overhanging rock of limestone, the face of which presents large
projections, and hanging points, encrusted with a rough, tuberculous
sort of stalactite. At one corner of the bottom there is a cavern, in
which a tub is fixed to receive water of great purity, which
perpetually drips from the roof, and which in the dry season is a
most valuable resource. Beyond this, which is very obscure, the eye
penetrates to a larger area, deeper still, which receives light from
some other communication with the air. Round the projections and
groins of the front, the roots of the trees above have entwined, and
to a fibre of one of these hanging down, not thicker than whipcord,
was suspended a Humming-bird’s nest, containing two eggs. It
seemed to be composed wholly of moss, was thick, and attached to
the rootlet by its side. One of the eggs was broken. I did not disturb
it, but after about three weeks, visited it again. It had been
apparently handled by some curious child, for both eggs were
broken, and the nest was evidently deserted.
But while I lingered in the romantic place, picking up some of the
landshells which were scattered among the rocks, suddenly I heard
the whirr of a Humming-bird, and, looking up, saw a female
Polytmus hovering opposite the nest, with a mass of silk-cotton in
her beak. Deterred by the sight of me, she presently retired to a
twig, a few paces distant, on which she sat. I immediately sunk
down among the rocks as quietly as possible, and remained perfectly
still. In a few seconds she came again, and after hovering a moment
disappeared behind one of the projections, whence in a few seconds
she emerged again and flew off. I then examined the place, and
found to my delight, a new nest, in all respects like the old one, but
unfinished, affixed to another twig not a yard from it. I again sat
down among the stones in front, where I could see the nest, not
concealing myself, but remaining motionless, waiting for the petite
bird’s reappearance. I had not to wait long: a loud whirr, and there
she was, suspended in the air before her nest: she soon espied me,
and came within a foot of my eyes, hovering just in front of my face.
I remained still, however, when I heard the whirring of another just
above me, perhaps the mate, but I durst not look towards him lest
the turning of my head should frighten the female. In a minute or
two the other was gone, and she alighted again on the twig, where
she sat some little time preening her feathers, and apparently
clearing her mouth from the cotton-fibres, for she now and then
swiftly projected the tongue an inch and a half from the beak,
continuing the same curve as that of the beak. When she arose, it
was to perform a very interesting action; for she flew to the face of
the rock, which was thickly clothed with soft dry moss, and hovering
on the wing, as if before a flower, began to pluck the moss, until she
had a large bunch of it in her beak; then I saw her fly to the nest,
and having seated herself in it, proceed to place the new material,
pressing, and arranging, and interweaving the whole with her beak,
while she fashioned the cup-like form of the interior, by the pressure
of her white breast, moving round and round as she sat. My
presence appeared to be no hindrance to her proceedings, though
only a few feet distant; at length she left again, and I left the place
also. On the 8th of April I visited the cave again, and found the nest
perfected, and containing two eggs, which were not hatched on the
1st of May, on which day I sent Sam to endeavour to secure both
dam and nest. He found her sitting, and had no difficulty in
capturing her, which, with the nest and its contents, he carefully
brought down to me. I transferred it, having broken one egg by
accident, to a cage, and put in the bird; she was mopish, however,
and quite neglected the nest, as she did also some flowers which I
inserted; sitting moodily on a perch. The next morning she was
dead.
On the 7th of May, a lad showed me another nest of the same
species, containing two young newly hatched. It was stuck on a twig
of a seaside grape tree, (Coccoloba), about fifteen feet above the
ground, almost above the sea, for the tree grew at the very edge of
the shore, and the branches really did stretch over the sea. The bird
was wary, and would not return to the nest while I staid there, or
Sam, whom I stationed in the tree to catch her; but on our receding
a few minutes, we found her on the nest. Sam watched sometime
vainly with the insect-net; but as I thought, if I could secure her in a
cage with her nest, the claims of her young would probably awaken
her attention more than the mere unhatched eggs had done the
former one, we proceeded to the tree at night with a lantern. The
noise and shaking of the tree, however, had again alarmed her, (at
least so we concluded,) for she was not on the nest when reached.
The next morning Sam had occasion to pass twice by the grape-tree,
but at neither time was the bird on the nest. Still suspecting nothing,
we went after breakfast, to set a noose of horse-hair on the nest, a
common artifice of the negro boys, to capture small birds when
sitting. On mounting to set it, however, Sam discovered that the nest
was quite empty, no trace of the unfledged young being left. It is
probable that the bird, annoyed at being watched, had removed
them in her beak, a thing not without precedent. Sam assured me,
that if a Bald-pate Pigeon be sitting on a nest containing young, and
be alarmed by a person climbing the tree, so as to be driven from
the nest, twice in succession, you may look for the young the next
day, in vain.
In June I found a nest of the same species on a shrub or young
tree in the Cotta-wood. It contained one egg; I looked at it, and
went a little way farther. In a few minutes I returned; the bird was
sitting, the head and tail oddly projecting from the nest, as usual. I
hoped to approach without alarming it, but its eye was upon me,
and when I was within three or four yards, it flew. I looked into the
nest, but there was no egg: on search, I found it on the ground
beneath, much cracked, but not crushed. How could it have come
there? The bush, to the main stem of which it was attached, was too
strong for the rising of the bird to have jerked it out; beside which,
such result was not likely to happen from an action taking place
many times every day. It must, I think, have been taken out by the
bird. I replaced the cracked egg, and a day or two afterwards,
visited it again: the nest was again empty, and evidently deserted.
On the 12th of November, we took, in Bluefields morass, the nest
of a Polytmus, containing two eggs, one of which had the chick
considerably advanced, the other was freshly laid. The nest was
placed on a hanging twig of a black-mangrove tree, the twig passing
perpendicularly through the side, and out at the bottom. It is now
before me. It is a very compact cup, 1¾ inch deep without, and 1
inch deep within; the sides about ¼ inch thick, the inner margin a
little overarching, so as to narrow the opening: the total diameter at
top, 1½ inch; 1 inch in the clear. It is mainly composed of silk-cotton
very closely pressed, mixed with the still more glossy cotton of an
asclepias, particularly around the edge; the seed remaining attached
to some of the filaments. On the outside the whole structure is quite
covered with spiders’ web, crossed and recrossed in every direction,
and made to adhere by some viscous substance, evidently applied
after the web was placed, probably saliva. Little bits of pale-green
lichen, and fragments of thin laminated bark, are stuck here and
there on the outside, by means of the webs having been passed
over them. The eggs are long-oval, pure white, save that when
fresh, the contents produce a reddish tinge, from the thinness of the
shell. Their long diameter ⁷⁄₁₂ inch; short ⁴⁄₁₂. The above may be
considered a standard sample of the form, dimensions, and
materials of the nest of this species. Variations, however, often occur
from local causes. Thus, in the one from Bognie cave, only moss is
used, and the base is produced to a lengthened point; one of
exceeding beauty now before me, is composed wholly of pure silk-
cotton, bound profusely with the finest web, undistinguishable
except on close examination; not a fragment of lichen mars the
beautiful uniformity of its appearance. Others are studded all over
with the lichens, and these, too, have a peculiar rustic prettiness.
The situations chosen for nidification, as will have been perceived,
are very various.
I have attempted to rear the young from the nest by hand, but
without complete success. A young friend found a nest in June, on a
twig of a wild coffee-tree, (Tetramerium odoratissimum,) which
contained a young bird. He took it, and fed it with sugar and water
for some days, but when it was full fledged, and almost ready to
leave the nest, it died and was partially eaten by ants. It was,
however, a male, and formed an important link in the evidence by
which I at length discovered the specific identity of the female.
Latham, it is true, long ago describes it conjecturally as the female
of Polytmus; but Lesson, in his “Ois. Mouches,” has treated the
supposition as groundless. I may observe that to satisfy myself I was
in the habit of dissecting my specimens, and invariably found, with
one exception, the green-breasted to be males, the white-breasted
to be females.[24] But to return. On the 20th of May of the present
year (1846), Sam brought me the nest of a Polytmus, which had
been affixed to a twig of sweet-wood (Laurus). It contained one
young, unfledged, the feathers just budding, I began to feed it with
sugar dissolved in water, presented in a quill, which it readily sucked
many times a-day. Occasionally I caught musquitoes, and other
small insects, and putting them into the syrup, gave them to the
bird; these it seemed to like, but particularly ants, which crowded
into the sweet fluid and overspread its surface. The quill would thus
take up a dozen at a time, which were sucked in by the little bird
with much relish. It throve manifestly, and the feathers grew apace,
so that on the 29th, after having been in my possession nine days, it
was almost ready to leave the nest. But on that day it died. Another
I reared under similar circumstances, and in a similar way, until it
was actually fledged. When nearly full grown, it would rear itself up,
touching the nest only with its feet, on tiptoe, as it were, and vibrate
its wings as if hovering in flight, for minutes together. At length it
fairly took its flight out at the window. Both these were females.
[24] The exception is, that a specimen obtained on the 6th of May, in
female livery, displayed on dissection two indubitable testes, in the
ordinary situation.
The young male, when ready to leave the nest, has the throat and
breast metallic-green as above, the belly-feathers blackish, with
large tips of green; the tail black with green reflections, untipped. A
male which I obtained in May, and which I take to be the young of
the preceding winter, has the green on the head, mingled with black,
the disks of the feathers being green with a black border. The
emerald green of the breast is partial in its extent, reaching to the
belly only in isolated feathers, separated by large spaces of
brownish-drab; while on the throat and breast, the feathers have
merely large round disks of the emerald-colour, with narrow edges of
brown.
The tongue of this species, (and doubtless others have a similar
conformation,) presents, when recent, the appearance of two tubes
laid side by side, united for half their length, but separate for the
remainder. Their substance is transparent in the same degree as a
good quill, which they much resemble: each tube is formed by a
lamina rolled up, yet not so as to bring the edges into actual contact,
for there is a longitudinal fissure on the outer side, running up
considerably higher than the junction of the tubes; into this fissure
the point of a pin may be inserted and moved up and down the
length. Near the tip the outer edge of each lamina ceases to be
convoluted, but is spread out, and split at the margin into irregular
fimbriæ, which point backward, somewhat like the vane of a feather;
these are not barbs, however, but simply soft and flexible points,
such as might be produced by snipping diagonally the edge of a strip
of paper. I conjecture that the nectar of flowers is pumped up the
tubes, and that minute insects are caught, when in flowers, in these
spoon-like tips, their minute limbs being perhaps entangled in the
fimbriæ, when the tongue is retracted into the beak, and the insects
swallowed by the ordinary process, as doubtless those are which are
captured with the beak in flight. I do not thoroughly understand the
mode by which liquids are taken up by a Humming-bird’s tongue,
though I have carefully watched the process. If syrup be presented
to one in a quill, the tongue is protruded for about half an inch into
the liquor, the beak resting in the pen, as it is held horizontal: there
is a slight but rapid and constant projection and retraction of the
tubes, and the liquor disappears very fast, perhaps by capillary
attraction, perhaps by a sort of pumping, certainly not by licking.
All the Humming-birds have more or less the habit when in flight
of pausing in the air, and throwing the body and tail into rapid and
odd contortions; this seems to be most the case with Mango, but
perhaps is more observable in Polytmus from the effect that such
motions have on the beautiful long feathers of the tail. That the
object of these quick turns is the capture of insects I am sure,
having watched one thus engaged pretty close to me; I drew up and
observed it carefully, and distinctly saw the minute flies in the air,
which it pursued and caught, and heard repeatedly the snapping of
the beak. My presence scarcely disturbed it, if at all.
The neck in these birds is very long; but appears short, because it
forms a sigmoid curve downward, which is concealed by the feathers
of the breast: the trachea is therefore long, and its appearance is
singular, because the dilatation from which the bronchi divide, is
near the middle of the whole length, the bronchi being full half an
inch in length; they run down side by side, however, and are in fact
soldered together for about half of their length: though the tubes
are still distinct, as appears by a transverse section. Our two other
species I have proved to have the same conformation.
When I left England, I had laid myself out for the attempt to bring
these radiant creatures alive to this country: and after a little
acquaintance with the Jamaican species, Polytmus seemed, from its
beauty, its abundance, its size, its docility, and its mountain habitat,
to be the species at once most likely to succeed, and most worthy of
the effort. My expectations were disappointed: yet as the efforts
themselves made me more familiar with their habits, the reader, I
trust, will pardon some prolixity of detail in the narration of these
attempts. Very many were caught by myself and my lads: the
narrow path on Bluefields peak already mentioned, was the locality
to which we resorted on these expeditions. A common gauze
butterfly-net, on a ring of a foot in diameter and a staff of three or
four feet, we found the most effective means of capture. The
elaborate traps recommended by some authors, I fear would suit the
natural history of the closet, better than that of the woods. We often
found the curiosity of these little birds stronger than their fear; on
holding up the net near one, he frequently would not fly away, but
come and hover over the mouth, stretching out his neck to peep in,
so that we could capture them with little difficulty. Often too, one
when struck at unsuccessfully, would return immediately, and
suspend itself in the air just above our heads, or peep into our faces,
with unconquerable familiarity. Yet it was difficult to bring these
sweet birds, so easily captured, home; they were usually dead or
dying when we arrived at the house, though not wounded or struck.
And those which did arrive in apparent health, usually died the next
day. At my first attempt in the spring of 1845, I transferred such as I
succeeded in bringing alive, to cages immediately on their arrival at
the house, and though they did not beat themselves, they soon sunk
under the confinement. Suddenly they would fall to the floor of the
cage, and lie motionless with closed eyes; if taken into the hand,
they would perhaps seem to revive for a few moments; then throw
back the pretty head, or toss it to and fro as if in great suffering,
expand the wings, open the eyes, slightly puff up the feathers of the
breast, and die: usually without any convulsive struggle. This was
the fate of my first attempts.
In the autumn, however, they began to be numerous again upon
the mountain, and having, on the 13th of November, captured two
young males sucking the pretty pink flowers of Urena lobata, I
brought them home in a covered basket. The tail-feathers of the one
were undeveloped, those of the other half their full length. I did not
cage them but turned them out into the open room in which the
daily work of preparing specimens was carried on, having first
secured the doors and windows. They were lively, but not wild;
playful towards each other, and tame with respect to myself, sitting
unrestrained for several seconds at a time on my finger. I collected a
few flowers and placed them in a vase on a high shelf, and to these
they resorted immediately. But I soon found that they paid attention
to none but Asclepias curassavica, and slightly to a large Ipomea. On
this I again went out, and gathered a large bunch of Asclepias, and
was pleased to observe that on the moment of my entering the
room, one flew to the nosegay, and sucked while I held it in my
hand. The other soon followed, and then both these lovely creatures
were buzzing together within an inch of my face, probing the flowers
so eagerly, as to allow their bodies to be touched without alarm.
These flowers being placed in another glass, they visited each
bouquet in turn, now and then flying after each other playfully
through the room, or alighting on various objects. Though
occasionally they flew against the window, they did not flutter and
beat themselves at it, but seemed well content with their parole. As
they flew, I repeatedly heard them snap the beak, at which times,
they doubtless caught minute flies. After some time, one of them
suddenly sunk down in one corner, and on being taken up seemed
dying: it had perhaps struck itself in flying. It lingered awhile, and
died. The other continued his vivacity; perceiving that he had
exhausted the flowers, I prepared a tube, made of the barrel of a
goose-quill, which I inserted into the cork of a bottle to secure its
steadiness and upright position, and filled with juice of sugar-cane. I
then took a large Ipomea, and having cut off the bottom, I slipped
the flower over the tube, so that the quill took the place of the
nectary of the flower. The bird flew to it in a moment, clung to the
bottle rim, and bringing his beak perpendicular, thrust it into the
tube. It was at once evident that the repast was agreeable, for he
continued pumping for several seconds, and on his flying off, I found
the quill emptied. As he had torn off the flower in his eagerness for
more, and even followed the fragments of the corolla, as they lay on
the table, to search them, I refilled the quill and put a blossom of
the Marvel of Peru into it, so that the flower expanded over the top.
The little toper found it again, and after drinking freely, withdrew his
beak, but the blossom was adhering to it as a sheath. This
incumbrance he presently got rid of, and then, (which was most
interesting to me,) he returned immediately, and inserting his beak
into the bare quill, finished the contents. It was amusing to see the
odd position of his head and body as he clung to the bottle, with his
beak inserted perpendicularly into the cork. Several times, in the
course of the evening, he had recourse to his new fountain, which
was as often replenished for him, and at length about sunset betook
himself to a line stretched across the room, for repose. He slept, as
they all do, with the head not behind the wing, but slightly drawn
back on the shoulders, and in figure reminded me of Mr. Gould’s
beautiful plate of Trogon resplendens, in miniature. In the morning, I
found him active before sunrise, already having visited his quill of
syrup, which he emptied a second time. After some hours, he flew
through a door which I had incautiously left open, and darting
through the window of the next room, escaped, to my no small
chagrin.
Three males, captured on Bluefields peak on the 22nd of April,
were brought home alive. They at once became familiar on being
turned into the room, and one, the boldest, found out immediately a
glass of sugar-syrup, and sipped repeatedly at it. One of them
disappeared in the course of the next day, doubtless by falling into
some obscure corner behind the furniture. The others, however,
appeared quite at home, and one soon became so familiar, even
before I had had him a day, as to fly to my face, and perching on my
lip or chin, thrust his beak into my mouth, and suck up the moisture.
He grew so bold, and so frequent in his visits, as at length to
become almost annoying; and so pertinacious as to thrust his
protruded tongue into all parts of my mouth, searching between the
gum and cheek, beneath the tongue, &c. Occasionally, I gratified
him by taking into my mouth a little of the syrup, and inviting him by
a slight sound, which he learned to understand; and this appeared
to please his palate. Bouquets of fresh flowers they did not appear
much to regard; but one or two species of Lantana seemed more
attractive than the rest. I expected that the honeyed and fragrant
bunches of blossom of the Moringa, which on the tree is perpetually
visited by them, would tempt my captives, but after a brief trial, they
disregarded them. Perhaps it was because they could sate their
appetite more freely and fully at the syrup glass, which they
frequently visited, but only sipped. They always clung to the glass
with their feet, and very often to the flowers also. Each selected his
own places of perching; there were lines stretched across the room,
for drying bird-skins; and from the first each took a place on one of
the lines, distant from the other, where he then invariably roosted,
and rested. Each selected also one or two other stations for
temporary alighting, but each adhered to his own, without invading
his neighbour’s. So strong was this predilection, that on my driving
one away from his spot, he would flutter round the room, but return
and try to alight there again, and if still prevented, would hover
round the place, as if much distressed. This preference of a
particular twig for alighting is observable in freedom, and will
suggest an analogy with the Flycatchers. I have not observed it in
our other species. It gave us a means of capturing many, in addition
to the net; for by observing a spot of resort, and putting a little
birdlime on that twig, we could be pretty sure of a bird in a few
minutes. The boldest was rather pugnacious, occasionally attacking
his gentler and more confiding companion, who always yielded and
fled; when the assailant would perch and utter a succession of shrill
chirps, “screep, screep, screep.” After a day or two, however, the
persecuted one plucked up courage, and actually played the tyrant
in his turn, interdicting his fellow from sipping at the sweetened cup.
Twenty times in succession would the thirsty bird drop down upon
the wing to the glass,—which stood at the edge of a table
immediately beneath that part of the line, where both at length were
wont to perch,—but no sooner was he poised in front and about to
insert his tongue, than the other would dart down with inconceivable
swiftness, and wheeling so as to come up beneath him, would drive
him away from his repast. He might fly to any other part of the room
unmolested, but an approach to the cup was the signal for an
instant assault. The ill-natured fellow himself drank long and
frequent draughts. I noticed that no sooner had this individual
recovered his boldness than he recovered his voice also, and both
would screep pertinaciously and shrilly, almost without intermission.
When they were accustomed to the room, their vivacity was
extreme, manifested in their upright posture, and quick turns and
glances when sitting, which caused their lovely breasts to flash out
from darkness into sudden lustrous light like rich gems;—and no less
by their dartings hither and thither, their most graceful wheelings
and evolutions in the air; so rapid that the eye was frequently
baffled in attempting to follow their motions. Suddenly we lose the
radiant little meteor in one corner, and as quickly hear the vibration
of his invisible wings in another behind us: or find him hovering in
front of our face, without having seen, in the least, how he came
there. It is worthy of observation that Polytmus in flying upward,
keeps the feathers of the tail closed, but in descending they are
expanded to the utmost, at which time the two long feathers,
quivering with the rapidity of their motion, like a streamer in a gale,
form about a right angle. I cannot tell why there should be this
difference, but I believe it is invariable.
From that time to the end of May, I obtained about twenty-five
more, nearly all males, and with one or two exceptions captured on
the Bluefields ridge. Some were taken with the net, others with bird-
lime; but though transferred to a basket or to a cage immediately on
capture, not a few were found dead on arrival at home. This sudden
death I could not at all account for: they did not beat themselves
against the sides, though they frequently clung to them: from the
wild look of several that were alive when arrived, sitting on the
bottom of the cage, looking upwards, I suspect terror, at their
capture and novel position, had no small influence. Many of those
which were found alive, were in a dying state, and of those which
were turned out into the room, several more died in the first twenty-
four hours; generally, because, not observing the lines which the
domesticated ones used as perches, they would fly against the
perpendicular walls, where, after fluttering awhile suspended, they
would at length sink, exhausted, perpendicularly downwards, the
wings still vibrating, and alight on the object that intercepted their
downward course. If this was the floor, they would presently rise on
the wing, only again to flutter against the wall as before; but often it
would happen that they would sink behind some of the many boxes
with which the shelves were lumbered; in which case the space
being too narrow for the use of their wings, they soon died
unobserved, and were found dead only upon searching. This was the
fate of many; so that out of the twenty-five, only seven were
domesticated. These, however, became quite at home; and I may
here observe that there was much difference in the tempers of
individuals; some being moody and sulky, others very timid, and
others gentle and confiding from the first. I have noticed this in
other birds also; Doves, for instance, which manifest individuality of
character, perhaps as much as men, if we were competent to
appreciate it. My ordinary plan of accustoming them to the room,
and teaching them to feed, was very simple. On opening the basket
in which one or more newly-caught Humming-birds were brought
home, they would fly out, and commonly soar to the ceiling, rarely
seeking the window; there for awhile, or against the walls, as above
mentioned, they would flutter, not beating themselves, but hanging
on rapidly vibrating wings, lightly touching the plaster with the beak
or breast, every second, and thus slightly rebounding. By keeping a
strict watch on them while so occupied, we could observe when they
became exhausted, and sunk rapidly down to alight; commonly, they
would then suffer themselves to be raised, by passing the finger
under the breast, to which they would apply their little feet. Having
thus raised one on my finger, and taken a little sugar into my mouth,
I inserted its beak between my lips. Sometimes it would at once
begin to suck eagerly; but at other times it was needful to invite it
thus many times, before it would notice the sugar: by persevering,
however, they commonly learned. And when one had once fed from
the mouth, it was always ready to suck afterwards, and frequently,
as above narrated, voluntarily sought my lips. Having given one his
first lesson, I gently presented him to the line, and drawing my
finger from under him, he would commonly take to it, but if not, the
proceeding had to be repeated: and even when perched, the
repetition of the feeding and placing on the line was needful to
induce the habit. If the bird’s temper were kindly, it soon began to
perch on the line of its own accord; when I ceased to feed it from
my lips, presenting to it, instead, the glass of syrup. After it had
sucked thus a time or two, it found it as it stood at the edge of a
table; and I considered it domesticated. Its time was now spent in
incessant short flights about the room, alternating with momentary
rests on the line; often darting to another on the wing, when the
most rapid and beautiful evolutions would take place, in which the
long tail-feathers whisked about in a singular manner. I believe these
rencontres were all amicable, for they never appeared to come into
actual contact, nor to suffer any inconvenience from them. After
close observation to ascertain the fact, I was fully convinced that the
object of their incessant sallies on the wing was the capture of
minute insects; so minute that they were generally undistinguishable
to the human eye. Yet the action of the bird shewed that something
was pursued and taken, and though from the extreme rapidity of
their motions, I could not often see the capture, yet several times I
did detect the snap of the beak, and once or twice witnessed the
taking of some little fly, just large enough to be discerned in the air.
Moreover, the flights were sometimes very short; a leap out upon
the wing to the distance of a foot or two, and then a return to the
perch, just as the true Fly-catchers do; which indeed the Humming-
birds are, to all intents and purposes, and most accomplished ones. I
judge, that, on a low estimate, each captured on the wing at least
three insects per minute, and that, with few intervals, incessantly,
from dawn to dusk. Abroad I do not think quite so many would be
taken in the air, the more normal way being, I presume, the securing
of the minute creatures that inhabit the tubes of flowers; yet we
perpetually see them hawking even at liberty. My captives would
occasionally fly to the walls, and pick from the spiders’ webs, with
which they were draped. When they rested, they sat in nearly an
upright posture, the head usually thrown a little back, and the
crimson beak pointing at a small angle above the horizon, the feet
almost hidden, the belly being brought into contact with the perch,
the tail somewhat thrown in under the body, and the long feathers
crossing each other near their middle. Their ordinary mode of
coming down to drink was curious. I have said that their little
reservoir of syrup was placed at the edge of a table, about two feet
beneath them. Instead of flying down soberly in a direct line, which
would have been far too dull for the volatile genius of a Humming-
bird, they invariably made a dozen or twenty distinct stages of it,
each in a curve descending a little, and ascending nearly to the
same plane, and hovering a second or two at every angle; and
sometimes when they arrived opposite the cup more quickly than
usual, as if they considered it reached too soon, they would make
half a dozen more horizontal traverses before they would bring their
tiny feet to the edge of the glass and insert their sucking tongue.
They were very frequently sipping, though they did not take much at
a time; five birds about emptied a wine-glass per diem. Their fæcal
discharges were altogether fluid, and exactly resembled the syrup
which they imbibed. They were rather late in retiring to roost,
frequently hawking and sporting till dusk; and when settled for the
night, were restless, and easily disturbed. The entrance of a person
with a candle, at any hour, was liable to set one or two upon the
wing; and this was always a matter of regret with me, because of
the terror which they seemed to feel, incapacitating them from again
finding the perching line. On such occasions they would again flutter
against the walls, and sink down, as when first captured, with the
same danger of accident, if not closely watched, and picked up when
exhausted. After having inhabited my specimen-room for some time,
(those, first caught almost four weeks,) I transferred them, five in
number, all males, to a large cage with a wired front, and two
transverse perches; I had much dreaded this change, and therefore
did it in the evening, hoping that the intervening night would calm
them. I had in some measure prepared them for the change by
placing the cage (before the front was affixed) upon the table some
days previously, and setting their syrup-cup first close to the cage,
then a little within, then a little farther, until at length it stood at the
remotest corner. And I was pleased to observe that the birds
followed the cup every day, flying in and out of the cage to sip,
though at first very shyly and suspiciously, many times flying in and
suddenly darting out without tasting the fluid. After I had shut them
in, they beat and fluttered a good deal; but by the next day I was
gratified to find that all had taken their places quietly on the
perches, and sipped at the syrup, though rather less than usual. I
had now high hopes of bringing them alive to England, thinking the
most difficult task was over; especially as within a day or two after, I
added to them two more males, one of which presently learned both
to perch and to find the cup, and also a female. The latter interested
me much, for on the next day after her introduction, I noticed that
she had seated herself by a long-tailed male, on a perch occupied
only by them two, and was evidently courting his caresses. She
would hop sideways along the perch by a series of little quick jumps,
till she reached him, when she would gently peck his face, and then
recede, hopping and shivering her wings, and presently approach
again to perform the same actions. Now and then she would fly over
him, and make as if she were about to perch on his back, and
practise other little endearments; to which, however, I am sorry to
say, he seemed most ungallantly indifferent, being, in fact, the
dullest of the whole group. I expected to have them nidificate in the
cage, and therefore affixed a very inviting twig of lime-tree to the
cage wall, and threw in plenty of cotton, and perhaps should have
succeeded, but for the carelessness of my servant. For he having
incautiously left open the cage door, the female flew out and
effected her escape.
But all my hopes of success were soon to be quashed; for after
they had been in cage but a week, they began to die, sometimes
two in a day; and in another week, but a solitary individual was left,
which soon followed the others. I vainly endeavoured to replace
them, by sending to the mountain; for where the species was so
numerous two months before, they were now (beginning of June)
scarcely to be seen at all. The cause of the death of my caged
captives, I conjecture to have been the want of insect food; that,
notwithstanding their frequent sipping at the syrup, they were really
starved to death. I was led to this conclusion, by having found, on
dissecting those which died, that they were excessively meagre in
flesh, and that the stomach, which ordinarily is as large as a pea,
and distended with insects, was, in these, shrunken to a minute
collapsed membrane, with difficulty distinguished. If I had an
opportunity of trying the experiment again, with the advantage of
this experience, I would proceed rather differently. I would have a
very capacious cage, wired on every side, in the bottom of which a
supply of decaying fruit, such as oranges or pines, should be
constantly kept, but covered with wire that the birds might not defile
their plumage. This, as I have proved, would attract immense
numbers of minute flies, which, flitting to and fro in the cage, would
probably afford sufficient sustenance to the birds in conjunction with
the syrup. The birds, however, should be caged as short a time as
possible before sailing, which might be early in May; and by a
steamer, which calling at St. Thomas, Bermuda, and the Azores,
large bunches of fresh flowers, and even herbage, might be
obtained at short intervals on the voyage, with which, of course, a
multitude of insects would be introduced. Thus, I still think, these
lovely birds might be introduced into our conservatories and stoves,
where there would be no difficulty in preserving them. Mr. Yarrell has
suggested to me, that possibly young ones fed from the nest upon
syrup alone, might be able to live without insect food.
VERVAIN HUMMING-BIRD.[25]
Mellisuga humilis.—Mihi.
Ornismya minima, Less. Ois. M. 79. (nec auct.)
[25] Male. Length 2⁷⁄₁₀ inches, expanse 3½, flexure 1½, rictus ⁵⁄₁₀,
(nearly,) tail ⁸⁄₁₀, tarsus rather above ¹⁄₁₀, middle toe ¹⁄₁₀, claw ¹⁄₁₀.
Irides, beak, and feet black. Whole upper parts metallic-green; wings
purplish-black; tail deep-black; chin and throat, white speckled with
black; breast white; sides metallic-green; belly whitish, each feather
tipped with green; vent white; under tail-coverts white, tipped faintly
with green.
Female. Rather less; of a yellower green above, which descends half-
way down upon the tail. Whole under parts pure white, unspotted,
untinged with green; tail-feathers, except the uropygials, tipped with
white.
Intestine 1⁹⁄₁₀ inch: no cæca.
That this is the species of which M. Lesson has figured the female
in his Oiseaux Mouches, pl. 79, there can be no doubt. His figure is a
very fair representation; though it is too slender, and the white mark
behind the eye I cannot find: this, however, I do not wonder at, if,
as is most probable, his figure was taken from a dried specimen. He
says, “it is beyond contradiction the smallest of all those yet known,
and without doubt is the ‘very little Humming-bird’ of voyagers. Its
length is 2 inches and 4 lines.” But that it is the Trochilus minimus of
Linnæus, Buffon, Edwards, and Latham, who can imagine, that puts
any faith in testimony? Edwards’ figure, which is said to be “of its
natural bigness,” measures 1⁴⁄₁₀ inch; that in the Pl. Enl. 276. fig. 1,
is about 1³⁄₁₀; and Latham, who says expressly, “I have received
this from Jamaica,” gives its total length 1¼ inch, and that of its
beak, 3½ lines. It is true the description as to colouring, &c., bears a
very close resemblance to mine, but no one accustomed to the
precision of science could mistake 2½ inches for 1¼![26] Neither is it
possible that these minute specimens can be the young of the
present species; for nestling Humming-birds, even when not half-
fledged, are very little less in size than the adult, and, when able to
leave the nest, are scarcely to be distinguished as to dimensions.
Moreover, having reared this species I can speak positively. But Mr.
Bullock records having obtained in Jamaica a species whose body
was but half an inch in length; this specimen is understood to have
become the possession of the late George Loddiges, Esq., and I have
been assured by an ornithological friend, who has seen it, that it is
no larger than the species of the old naturalists. Under these
considerations, Lesson’s name being manifestly misapplied, I have
ventured to give to the present species, a new appellation, derived
from its habit of buzzing over the low herbaceous plants of pastures,
which our other species do not. The West Indian vervain
(Stachytarpheta) is one of the most common weeds in neglected
pastures, shooting up everywhere its slender columns, set round
with blue flowers, to the height of a foot. About these our little
Humming-bird is abundant during the summer months, probing the
azure blossoms a few inches from the ground. It visits the spikes in
succession, flitting from one to another, exactly in the manner of the
honey-bee, and with the same business-like industry and application.
In the winter, the abundance of other flowers and the paucity of
vervain-blossoms, induce its attentions to the hedgerows and woods.
[26] Yet Sloane describes his “Least Humming-bird,” (Jam. 308) as
“about 1¼ inch long, from the end of the bill to that of the tail,” while of
his figure the bill alone measures ¾ inch, and the whole bird 2⁵⁄₈. As the
worthy Doctor, however, is said to have taken his admeasurements with
his thumb-nail, this slight variation is the less surprising.
Mniotilta varia.
Motacilla varia, Linn.
Sylvia varia, Lath.
Certhia maculata, Wils.
Mniotilta varia, Vieill.
Certhia varia, Aud. pl. 90.
[27] Length 5 inches, expanse 8½, flexure 2⁸⁄₁₀, tail 2, rictus ⁶⁄₁₀,
tarsus ⁸⁄₁₀, middle toe ⁶⁄₁₀.
This pretty bird, whose lot has been to oscillate in the systems of
naturalists from the Warblers to the Creepers and from the Creepers
to the Warblers, appears to have as much ambiguity in its manners
as in its structure. One day I noticed it, and watched its proceedings,
in one of the spreading Black-withes, that form large tangled masses
of long slender branches over a clear space of mud in the morasses,
the topmost stratum of which alone is furnished with leaves, but that
dense enough, not only with its own foliage, but also with the
drapery of convolvulus that is usually hung in profusion over it. The
little bird was mounting from the bottom hopping from twig to twig,
searching and picking as it went up; when it reached the bushy top,
it suddenly descended, apparently by dropping perpendicularly to
the bottom, where it picked a little about the mud, then mounted
gradually, and dropped as before. After proceeding thus two or three
times, I secured it.
At other times it affects the trunks of trees, even large ones, like a
true Creeper, hopping diagonally up the perpendicular bole, and
when at a good height, dropping down upon the wing, to alight
again near the root, and proceed upward in another line. Now and
then it stops to pick small insects from the crevices of the bark: and
this sort of food I have always found in its stomach.
It is rather common in Jamaica during the winter months: we first
saw it on the 26th of September, and last on the 30th of April.
The following interesting note accompanies a very correct drawing
of this species by Robinson (Birds: large Folio):—“Motacilla alba et
nigra varia.—It was pursued by a Hawk, and took sanctuary in
Chateau-morant House. Mr. Holladay, overseer at Chateau in
Clarendon, made me a present of the live bird, December 24th,
1760. It was very tame, and so hungry that it picked some feathers
out of a dead bird, and ate them. It weighed somewhat less than
two drachms.”
Fam.—TURDIDÆ.—(The Thrushes.)
HOPPING DICK.[28]
Twopenny Chick.
Merula leucogenys.
Turdus leucogenys, Gmel.
Merula solicitor, Hill.
[28] Length 9½ inches, expanse 14½, flexure 5, tail 3¾, rictus 1¼,
tarsus 1½, middle toe 1¹⁄₁₀. Irides doll orange; beak bright orange,
blackish at tip; feet deep fulvous. Whole upper parts greyish-black; crown
and tail deep black; wing-quills brownish-black; the innermost two of the
greater coverts have the edge of the outer web pure white. Under parts
ashy-grey, silky; darkest on throat; chin usually white; medial line of belly
white: under tail-coverts black, tipped with white. Sexes exactly alike.
GLASS-EYE.[29]
Shine-eye.—Fish-eye.
Merula Jamaicensis.
Turdus Jamaicensis, Gm.—Lath. Ind. Or. i. 328.
Merula leucophthalma, Hill.
[29] Length 8½ inches, expanse 14, flexure 4⁹⁄₁₀, tail 3¼, rictus 1¹⁄₁₀,
tarsus 1½, middle toe 1¹⁄₁₀. Irides bluish white, somewhat pellucid; feet
dark horn, soles yellowish; beak black, basal half of lower mandible
sometimes yellow. Whole head dark umber-brown, except on the chin,
where it is speckled with white. Back blackish ash, tinged with brown on
wing-primaries: tail blue-black. Breast and sides dusky ash, silky;
separated from the brown of the head by a narrow transverse band of
pure white: belly silky white; under tail-coverts black, with broad white
tips. Sexes alike in plumage and size. Intestine 12 inches; two cæca ¼
inch long, slender.