"The high lands of Columbia," says Gould, "from Venezuela to some distance north of Santa Fé de Bogota, are the natural habitat of this fine species. It is there very generally spread over the temperate regions of the country, never ascending to the snow-capped hills, nor descending to the hot plains below, but frequenting the warm valleys, where a luxuriant vegetation, teeming with insect life, affords it a never-ceasing supply of nourishment. The comparatively short and feeble bill points out that minute insects constitute its principal food, and as its structure is so similar to the other species of the genus, we may infer that, like them, it tranquilly flits about among the low shrubs in secluded valleys, and does not ascend to the loftier trees."
The HELMET CRESTS (_Oxypogon_) have a helmet-shaped crest, broad wings, a straight tail, and lustreless plumage.
LINDEN'S HELMET CREST (_Oxypogon Lindeni_) is of an uniform pale copper-colour on the mantle and under side; a spot on the brow and sides of the head are black; the sides of the throat and the longest crest and neck-feathers are white; the feathers of the tail are brown, with white shafts. The length of this species is five inches and a half: the wing measures three inches, and tail two and a half. Linden first discovered this very striking bird in the Sierra de Morida, in Columbia, where it was living at an elevation of from 12,000 to 13,000 feet above the level of the sea.
The birds belonging to this order possess in common a moderate-sized or long and sharp beak, which is either quite straight or slightly curved. The legs are extremely small and feeble, rather adapted to a sedentary life than formed for locomotion. The plumage is thick, compact, and usually brilliantly tinted.
The BEE-EATERS (_Meropes_) comprise some of the most beautiful birds inhabiting the Eastern Hemisphere, and present so many peculiarities as to render their identification easy. Their body is very slender; the beak longer than the head, with both mandibles slightly curved, the upper one a trifle longer than the lower; the culmen, margins, and tip are sharp; the short, small foot has three toes, the exterior of which is connected with that in the centre as far as the second joint, whilst the inner toe is not joined to the latter beyond the first joint; the claws are long, hooked, sharp, and furnished with a prominent ridge on the inner side; the wing, in which the second quill exceeds the rest in length, is long and pointed; the tail is long, either straight, forked, or slightly rounded at its extremity; in some species the centre tail-feathers are twice as long as those at the exterior. The brilliantly variegated plumage is short and thick; the sexes are almost alike in colour, and the young acquire the same hues as their parents within the second year.