They do not proceed in that methodical manner which bees follow,
taking the flowers seriatim, but skip about from one part of the
tree to another in the most capricious way. Sometimes two males
close with each other and fight, mounting upwards in the
struggle, as insects are often seen to do when similarly engaged,
and then separating hastily and darting back to their work. Now
and then they stop to rest, perching on leafless twigs, where
they may be sometimes seen probing, from the places where they
sit, the flowers within their reach. The brilliant colours with
which they are adorned cannot be seen whilst they are fluttering
about, nor can the different species be distinguished unless they
have a deal of white hue in their plumage, such as Heliothrix
auritus, which is wholly white underneath, although of a
glittering green colour above, and the white-tailed Florisuga
mellivora.
There is not a great variety of hummingbirds in the Amazons
region, the number of species being far smaller in these uniform
forest plains than in the diversified valleys of the Andes, under
the same parallels of latitude.
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