Page:Natural History, Birds.djvu/74

Rh Some of these birds add the charm of song to that of brilliancy of plumage. Freycinet says of some species:—"At night they have a lengthened song, the modulations of which are very agreeable," and the music of one has been compared to that of the Nightingale.

The nest of the Sun-birds is commonly suspended, of a globose form, having an opening on one side, generally near the bottom. Mr. Jerdon, in the "Madras Journal of Science," has thus described that of Nectarinia mahrattensis, (.):—"I have seen the nest of this pretty little bird close to a house at Joulnah. It was commenced on a thick spider's web, by attaching to it various fragments of paper, cloth, straw, grass, and other substances, till it had secured a firm hold of the twigs to which the web adhered, and the nest, suspended on this, was then completed by adding other fragments of the same materials; the hole is at the one side, near the top, and has a slight projecting roof or awning over it."

We select, for illustration, the Splendid Sun-bird (Nectarinia splendida, ) of West Africa, one of the most gorgeous of the tribe. It is thus described by Sir W. Jardine:—"The back of the neck, shoulders, and upper and under tail-coverts, are brilliant golden green, varying with every change of light; the head and throat are steel-blue, in some lights appearing as black, in others as rich violet; across the breast there appears, in most lights, a band of scarlet, but in some positions it appears as if banded with steel-blue, golden-green, or violet, and at times to be almost entirely composed of one of those tints; this is occasioned by the structure of the feathers;