Its habits are no less perfectly the same as the rest of the _Nectariniae_; it is one of the commonest birds of Brazil, and appears spread over the whole extent of that country. It frequents the same trees as the Humming-birds, hopping from flower to flower, and extracting the nectar from each; but this is not done on the wing, because its formation is obviously different from the Humming-birds, which, on the contrary, poise themselves in the air during feeding. The shortness of the bill has evidently given rise to this bird being placed with the Warblers; but this organ is not shorter in proportion than it is in _Nectarinia spiza_, (_Certhia spiza_ of Latham). I am unacquainted with the other varieties of this species mentioned by authors. Of the bird here described, I have never seen any variety, either in Brazil or in our museums. The young males, as usual before moulting, have the colours of the female; one of them, in an intermediate state, is in my possession. As both the figures are of the size of life, and accurately coloured, a fuller description is unnecessary. The rich sky-blue of the male, in some lights, becomes greenish, and in others dark blue. The bill, like that of all the genuine _Nectariniae_, is slightly notched a little way from the tip, and the base is much broader than high. * * * * * Pl. 118 [Illustration] CONUS Generalis, _Flambeau Cone._ * * * * * GENERIC CHARACTER.--See Pl. 65. * * * * * SPECIFIC CHARACTER. _C. testa gracili, fusca, fasciis albidis strigis undatis longitudinalibus interruptis ornata; spirae productae apice acuto, anfractibus concavis, laevibus; basi nigra._ Shell slender, brown, with white bands, interrupted by longitudinal stripes; spire produced, the tip acute, whorls concave, smooth; base black. Conus Generalis. _Gmelin_, _p._ 33. 75. _var. a._ _Dillwyn_, 359. _var. a._ _Martini_, _vol._ 2. _p._ 58. _f._ 645, 646. (_dark variety_) _f._ 648 _to_ 652. (_pale varieties_). _Gualt._ 20 _f._ G. Conus Generalis. _Brug._ _p._ 642. _Lam. Ann._ _vol._ 15. _p._ 363. * * * * * It becomes necessary to figure this elegant, but not uncommon Cone, in order to show the young conchologist the little importance that should be attached to _colour_ in the discrimination of species: the figures will likewise point out more fully the distinctions between the present shell, _C. maldivus_, and _C. cinctus_; three species, whose close affinity require illustration.