Belt saw them sucking the flowers of
Marcgravia and Erythina, and thus they carried pollen from flower to
flower. In North America they are said to frequent the flowers of
Impatiens: (Gould 'Introduction to the Trochilidae' 1861 pages 15, 120;
'Gardeners' Chronicle' 1869 page 389; 'The Naturalist in Nicaragua' page
129; 'Journal of the Linnean Society Botany' volume 13 1872 page 151.) I
may add that I often saw in Chile a Mimus with its head yellow with
pollen from, as I believe, a Cassia. I have been assured that at the
Cape of Good Hope, Strelitzia is fertilised by the Nectarinidae. There
can hardly be a doubt that many Australian flowers are fertilised by the
many honey-sucking birds of that country. Mr. Wallace remarks (address
to the Biological Section, British Association 1876) that he has "often
observed the beaks and faces of the brush-tongued lories of the Moluccas
covered with pollen." In New Zealand, many specimens of the Anthornis
melanura had their heads coloured with pollen from the flowers of an
endemic species of Fuchsia (Potts 'Transactions of the New Zealand
Institute' volume 3 1870 page 72.) Next in importance, but in a quite
subordinate degree, is the wind; and with some aquatic plants, according
to Delpino, currents of water. The simple fact of the necessity in many
cases of extraneous aid for the transport of the pollen, and the many
contrivances for this purpose, render it highly probable that some great
benefit is thus gained; and this conclusion has now been firmly
established by the proved superiority in growth, vigour, and fertility
of plants of crossed parentage over those of self-fertilised parentage.
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