122 MY LADY IN GREEN. 



and within hearing of a human ear ? What 

 friendly spirit bade her select a scantily leaved 

 branch, backed by the heavy foliage of luxuri- 

 ant maples, that rendered her fairy-like home 

 conspicuous whatever the weather and wherever 

 the sunlight fell ? By what hajjpy thought did 

 she settle upon a low bough with long swaying 

 ends, by which to draw it gently down, and thus 

 let the enraptured bird-lover watch closely day 

 by day the growth and development of her 

 darlinofs? and so near a house that one could 

 look into it from a window ? Long railway 

 trips in dusty August, the hot days and hotter 

 nights of that fiery month, and the various 

 minor discomforts of close summer - boarder 

 quarters were all forgotten in a great joy. 



Nothing was ever more bewitching to watch 

 than that atom in feathers, the hummingbird 

 mother. She was so tiny that her life might be 

 crushed out between a thumb and finger, yet 

 she was full of love and anxiety about her bird- 

 lings. She was thoughtful in her care of them, 

 and industrious in supplying their wants. In a 

 word, she was a pattern of perfect and beautiful 

 motherhood. Charming it was, beyond expres- 

 sion, to see her come home to her beloved, 

 embroidering angles in the air, — hummingbird 

 fashion, — pausing a dozen times on wing, look- 

 ing at them from as many points of view, and 



