TROCHILID.E. 107 



become in\4sible^ or appear only like a mist. AVhen 

 one of these birds is thus poised, even the pupil of 

 his eye is plainly distinguishable, looking round with 

 great quickness and circumspection. When he 

 alights, he always prefers the small dead twigs of a 

 tree or bush, where he dresses or arranges his 

 plumage with great nicety. His only note is a single 

 chirp, not much louder than that of a cricket or 

 grasshopper : this is generally uttered while passing 

 from flower to flow^er, or when engaged in fight with 

 his fellows ; for when two males meet at the same 

 bush or flower, a battle invariably ensues, and the 

 combatants ascend into the air, chirping, darting, 

 and circling round each other, till the eye is no 

 longer able to follow them. The conqueror generally 

 returns to the place to reap the fruits of victory. 

 The flight of these birds much resembles that of a 

 bee, but is so much more rapid that the insect 

 appears to be a mere loitei"er in comparison. It has 

 generally been supposed that the food of the 

 Humming-birds consists entirely of honey or the 

 liquid sweet that they gather from the flowers ; but 

 observation has given rise to the belief that it is 

 rather upon the minute insects that feast upon the 

 farina of tubular flowers that they subsist. Some- 

 times, indeed, they may be seen employed, for half 

 an hour at a time, in darting among the little groups 

 of insects that dance in the air on a summer^s even- 

 ing, and then retiring into an adjoining bush to rest, 

 renewing the attack at intervals ^dth a dexterity far 

 surpassing that of the ordinary Fly-catchers. 



Their nest is usually fixed to the branch of a tree, 

 at the distance of a few feet from the ground. It is 

 a beautiful structure, very small, and composed ex- 

 ternally of lichens taken from the trunks of trees or 

 from palings : these are thickly glued on A^ath the 

 saliva of the bird, so as to give firmness and consist- 

 ency to the whole fabric, and effectively to keep out 

 moisture. Within this are thick matted layers of 

 the fine wings of certain seeds, closely laid together ; 



