Mexican Star
The table land of Northern Mexico
This beautiful species, so well known by its trivial name of “Mexican Star,” is a denizen of the table-lands of that rich country Xalapa, the land of perpetual spring and of an unsurpassed climate.
It was in this fine region that the bird came under the observation of the late Mr. Bullock, to whom we are indebted for all that is known respecting it, and which is comprised in the following extracts from his “Six Months in Mexico”:—
The house I resided in at Xalapa for several weeks was only one story high, enclosing, like most of the Spanish houses, a small garden in the centre, the roof projecting six or seven feet from the walls, covering a walk all round, and leaving a small space only between the tiles and the trees which grew in the centre. From the edges of these tiles to the branches of the trees in the garden, the spiders had spread their innumerable webs so closely and compactly that they resembled a net. I have frequently watched, with much amusement, the cautious peregrination of the Humming-Bird, who, advancing beneath the web, entered the various labyrinths and cells in search of entangled flies; but as the larger spiders did not tamely surrender their booty, the invader was often compelled to retreat: being within a few feet, I could observe all their evolutions with great precision. The active little bird generally passed once or twice round the court, as if to reconnoitre his ground, and commenced his attack by going carefully under the nets of the wily insect, and seizing by surprise the smallest entangled flies, or those that were most feeble. In ascending the angular traps of the spider, great care and skill was required; sometimes he had scarcely room for his little wings to perform their office, and the least deviation would have entangled him in the complex machinery of the web, and involved him in ruin. It was only the works of the smaller spider that he durst attack, as the larger sort rose to the defence of their citadels, when the besieger would shoot off like a sunbeam, and could only be traced by the luminous glow of his refulgent colours. The bird generally spent about ten minutes in this predatory excursion, and then alighted on a branch of the Avocata to rest and refresh himself, placing his crimson star-like breast to the sun, which then presented all the glowing fire of the ruby, and surpassed in lustre the diadem of monarchs. 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 real life. The reason is obvious; for the sides of the lamine, or fibres of each feather, being of a different colour 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 changes its expanded throat from the most vivid fire-colour to light green; the Topaz-throated does the same, and the Mexican Star changes from bright crimson to blue.
The sexes vary greatly in their plumage, so much so that the male and female could not have been known had they not been seen constantly together, and proved to be so by dissection. They breed in Mexico in June and July; and the nest is a beautiful specimen of the architectural talent of these birds: it is neatly constructed with cotton or the down of thistles, to which is fastened on the outside, by some glutinous substance, a white, flat lichen resembling ours.
The female lays two eggs, perfectly white, and large for the size of the bird; and the Indians informed me they were hatched in three weeks by the male and female sitting alternately, Ww hen attending their young, they attack any bird indiscriminately that approaches the nest. Their motions when under the influence of anger or fear are very violent, and their flight rapid as an arrow—the eye cannot follow them; but the shrill piercing shriek which they utter on the wing may be heard when the bird is invisible. They attack the eyes of the larger birds, and their sharp needle-like bill is a truly formidable weapon in this kind of warfare. Nothing can exceed their fierceness when one of their own species invades their territory during the breeding season. Under the influence of jealousy they become perfect furies; their throats swell, their crests, tails and wings expand; they fight in the air (uttering a shrill noise) till one falls exhausted to the ground. I witnessed a combat of this kind near Otumba, during a heavy fall of rain, every separate drop of which I supposed sufficient to have beaten the puny warriors to the earth.
In sleeping they frequently suspend themselves by the feet, with their heads downwards, in the manner of some Parrots.
These birds were great favourites of the ancient Mexicans. ‘They used the feathers as ornaments for their superb mantles in the’ time of Montezuma, and in embroidering the pictures so much extolled by Cortez. Their name signifies in the Indian language ‘beams or locks of the sun’: and their feathers are still worn by the Indian ladies as ornaments for the ears.
I have numerous specimens of this bird in my collection, and observe that those procured in one locality differ somewhat from those obtained in another; for instance, the examples collected by my friend Floresi in the neighbourhood of the Real del Monte Mines are larger and altogether more powerful birds than those brought to this country by M. Salle and other collectors from Cordova. Bullock speaks with great truth when he states that the sexes differ considerably, for it is only those persons who are conversant with this extensive group as a whole, who can, with any degree of certainty, pair many of the species.
I have not yet seen this species from Guatemala; neither has it, so far as my knowledge extends, been procured in Texas; consequently Mexico Proper must be considered its restricted habitat.
It is just possible that this bird may be the Cynanthus Lucifer of Swainson, in which case his name ought to have the priority, but from the curtness of his description it is very difficult to decide this point; it is certainly the bird figured by Lesson under the name of cyanopogon; I have therefore adopted that appellation, which, moreover, has the advantage of being appropriate, while the other is not.
The male has the head, upper surface, wing- and tail-coverts bronzy-green; wings purple-brown; tail darker purple-brown; chin, chest, and elongated feathers on the sides of the neck changeable deep metallic purple; breast buffy-white; flanks and centre of the abdomen bronzy-green; vent and under tail-coverts white; bill and feet blackish-brown.
The female has the head and upper surface bronzy-green; wings pale purplish-brown; four central tailfeathers dark bronzy-green; the lateral feathers sandy-buff at the base, then black, and tipped with white; under surface white, stained with buff, particularly on the flanks and under tail-coverts.
The Plate represents two males and a female, of the natural size. The plant is the Beschorneria tubiflora.
Featuring all 422 illustrated species from John Gould’s A Monograph of the Trochilidæ, or Family of Humming-Birds arranged by color.
Humming-Birds
