“It is probable the whole of them feed on insects; numbers I am certain do so, having watched them attentively in the Botanic Garden at Mexico, in pursuit of their minute prey; and in the yard of the house in which I resided at Themascaltepec, where one of them took entire possession of a pomegranate tree in blossom, on which he sat the whole day, catching the small flies that came to the flowers. “Although, like the Robin and other birds of Europe, in a state of nature, they are extremely tenacious of any intrusion of their own species on their dominions, yet, in captivity, when several kinds have been confined together, I never observed the least inclination to quarrel, but have seen the smaller take what appeared to be unwarrantable liberties with those of five times their size and strength;—thus, when the perch has been occupied by the great blue-throated one, the diminutive Mexican Star has settled on the long beak of the former, and remained perched on it some minutes, without its offering to resist the insult. “Europeans who have seen only the stuffed remains of these little feathered gems in museums, have been charmed with their beautiful appearance; but those who have examined them whilst living, displaying their moving crests, throats, and tails, like the peacock in the sun, can never look with pleasure on their mutilated forms. I have carefully preserved about two hundred specimens, in the best possible manner, yet they are still but the shadow of what they were in life. The reason is obvious; for the sides of the laminæ, or fibres of each feather, being of a different color from the surface, will change when seen in a front or oblique direction; and as each lamina or fibre turns upon the axis of the quill, the least motion, when living, causes the feathers to change suddenly to the most opposite hues. Thus the one from Nootka Sound (_T. rufus_) changes its expanded throat from the most vivid fire color to light green; the topaz-throated does the same, and the Mexican Star changes from bright crimson to blue.