"Mr. Reeves," says Gould, "informs me that this elegant bird inhabits Rio de Janeiro and Minos Gerves, but is nowhere very common; that it is not met with in the immediate vicinity of Rio, but that it arrives in Novo Fribourgo in July and remains till September. During its stay it evinces a decided preference for the flowers of the orange-tree, which doubtless afford it an abundant supply of some peculiar and congenial kind of insect food. Its flight is both powerful and rapid. The nest is of somewhat lengthened form, attached to the side of a small twig, and composed of fine, dry, dark brown vegetable fibres, coated externally with small flakes of pale olive and buff-coloured bark. Another example is of a still more elongated shape, attached on one side to a slender vertical twig, and composed of some cottony material, held together externally by cobwebs and patches of grey lichen." * * * * * The FLOWER-SUCKERS (_Florisuga_) are distinguishable from the groups above described by the formation of their straight beak, which is flat only at its base, and towards its tip rises so considerably as to be higher than it is broad; the powerful feet are feathered on the tarsi, and armed with slightly-curved claws; the wings are long and slender, and the tail broad. THE PIED JACOBIN. The PIED JACOBIN (_Florisuga atra_) is almost entirely of a rich velvety black, with the exception of the vent and legs; the wing-covers are of a dull green, shaded with violet; the centre tail-feathers black with a blueish gloss, whilst those at the exterior are white tipped with black. The female is of duller hue, and has the cheeks and often the entire head rust-red; the feathers on her back are edged with yellowish red; the beak is deep black. This species is four inches and a half long; the wing measures two inches and two-thirds, and the tail one inch and a half. "The true, if not the restricted habitat of the Pied Jacobin," says Gould, "is the eastern portion of Brazil, over which it is distributed from Pernambuco on the north to Rio de Janeiro on the south, from which latter locality and Bahia great numbers are sent to Europe." We are without particulars as to its life and habits. * * * * * The FAIRIES (_Trochilus_) have a moderate-sized, straight beak, slender, sickle-shaped wings, and very gorgeous plumage, which differs considerably in the two sexes. They are generally seen hovering fairy-like around the blossoms of trees and shrubs, apparently giving the preference to tubular flowers, probably on account of the insects which lurk within them. THE RUBY-THROATED FAIRY HUMMING BIRD.