THERE are numerous species of Humming-Birds, but that represented above, is one of the most common. They are abundant in South America, particularly in Brazil; and are so small and so brilliant in their colours, that when seen fluttering about in the brilliant rays of a tropical sun, they look like flying gems. They are extremely active, darting about, and thrusting their long beaks and flexible tongues into every flower they see, in search of food. Sometimes they will remain suspended in the air for a long time together, vibrating their wings with such velocity, that they cannot be seen distinctly, but appear like a mist round the body of the bird, while they make that curious humming noise from which the bird takes its name. Sometimes they quarrel, when their little throats become distended, their crest, tails, and wings expand, and they fight with inconceivable fury, till one of them falls exhausted on the ground. The most common species is _Trochilus colubris_, the Ruby-throated Humming-Bird, and one of them has been kept alive in a cage for more than three months, by feeding it with sugar and water. This species is found in North America, where it migrates to the north in summer, and is there seen even in Canada and the country of Hudson’s Bay. [Illustration: THE HOOPOE. (_Upupa epops._)] THIS is a small bird, measuring no more than twelve inches from the point of the bill to the end of the tail. The bill is sharp, black, and somewhat bending. The head is adorned with a very beautiful, large moveable crest, a kind of bright halo, the radiation of which places the head nearly in the centre of a golden circle. This pleasing ornament, which the bird sets up or lets fall at pleasure, is composed of a double row of feathers, reaching from the bill to the nape of the neck, which is of a pale red. The breast is white, with black streaks tending downwards; the wings and back are varied with white and black cross-lines. The food of the Hoopoe consists chiefly of insects, with the remains of which its nest is sometimes so filled as to become extremely offensive. This beautifully-crested bird is not at all common in this country, and is solitary, two of them being seldom seen together, while in Egypt, where Hoopoes are very common, they are often seen in small flocks. The female generally constructs her nest in a hollow tree, the materials employed, in addition to the remains of their food, being very scanty, consisting in fact of a few dried grass stalks and feathers. She lays from four to seven eggs at a time, of a pale lavender grey, about an inch and a half long. The young are generally hatched in June; it is said, however, that two or three broods are produced in the course of the year. The name alludes to the note of the bird, which resembles the word “hoop” repeated several times in a low voice.