A PRETTY HUMMER 



WHERE do you suppose I got my first 

 glimpse of the mite in feathers called 

 ^^^^^ the broad-tailed humming-bird ? It 

 was in a green bower in the Rocky Mountains 

 in plain sight of the towering summit of Pike's 

 Peak, which seemed almost to be standing 

 guard over the place. Two brawling mountain 

 brooks met here, and, joining their forces, went 

 with increased speed and gurgle down the glades and 

 gorges. As they sped through this ravine, they 

 slightly overflowed their banks, making a boggy area 

 of about an acre as green as green could be ; and here 

 amid the grass and bushes a number of birds found a 

 pleasant summer home, among them the dainty hummer. 

 From the snowdrifts, still to be seen in the sheltered 

 gorges of Pike's Peak, the breezes would frequently 

 blow down into the nook with a freshness that stimu- 

 lated like wine with no danger of intoxicating; and 

 it was no wonder that the white-crowned sparrows, 



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