I have before stated that it would be impossible to arrange the Humming-Birds on the score of affinity; and I repeat that the various genera are so widely different, and so many connecting forms are wanting, that it is quite out of the question to attempt their arrangement on this ground. It is of little importance, then, where we place the bird known under the name of Patagona gigas and distinguished from all others by its great size, its ample wings, its sombre colouring, and by the similarity in the plumage of the two sexes. At present the single species which has been characterized, and which ranges from Ecuador to the southern parts of Chili, where it it a migrant, is all that is known of this form; but I observe that the Chilian and Ecuadorian specimens differ considerably in size, the latter being the largest.
Patagona gigas
Habitat: Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile
Plate 232
Patagona gigas
Giant Humming Bird
“The American Aloe (Agave Americana) is the only plant this bird is ever seen feeding upon in Ecuador.”—Jameson and Fraser in Ibis, vol. i. p. 400.
“This species,” says Mr. Darwin, “is common in Central Chile. It is a large bird for the delicate family to which it belongs. At Valparaiso, in the year 1834, I saw several of these birds in the middle of August, and I was informed they had only lately arrived from the parched deserts of the north. Towards the middle of September (the vernal equinox) their numbers were greatly increased. They breed in Central Chile, and replace, as I have before said, the foregoing species ” (Eustephanus galeritus), “which migrates southward for the same purpose. The nest is deep in proportion to its width—externally three inches and a half deep, internal depth a little under one inch and three quarters, width within one inch and two-tenths; mouth slightly contracted. Externally it is formed of fine fibrous grass woven together, and attached by one side, and bottom, to some thin upright twigs; internally it is thickly lined with a felt, formed of the pappus of some composite flower. When on the wing, the appearance of this bird is singular. Like others of the genus, it moves from place to place with a rapidity which may be compared to that of Syrphus among Diptera, and Sphinx among Moths; but whilst hovering over a flower, it flaps its wings with a very slow and powerful movement, totally different from that vibratory one, common to most of the species, which produces the humming noise. I never saw any other bird, where the force of its wings appeared (as in a butterfly) so powerful in proportion to the weight of its body. When hovering by a flower, its tail is constantly expanded and shut like a fan, the body being kept in a nearly vertical position. This action appears to steady and support the bird, between the slow movements of its wings. Although flying from flower to flower in search of food, its stomach generally contained abundant remains of insects, which I suspect are much more the object of its search than honey is. The note of this species, like that of nearly the whole family, is extremely shrill.”—Darwin, Zoology of the Beagle, part iii. Birds, p. 111.
“The Troch. gigas is found in all the central provinces of Chile; it is seen about Valparaiso during the spring and summer months, feeding on the flowers of Pourretia coarctata and Lobelia polyphylla in preference to others. It generally builds its nest near a little rivulet, frequently on a solitary twig or branch over the water; the nest is beautifully constructed, and is composed of moss and the down of a species of Gnaphalium. Eggs white; iris dark brown. Catches flies.”— Bridges in Proc. Zool. Soc. part vi. p. 114.
Featuring all 422 illustrated species from John Gould’s A Monograph of the Trochilidæ, or Family of Humming-Birds arranged by color.
Humming-Birds