BABIES THE SIZE OF A BEE. 125 



hen and chickens, and flew at them with savage 

 cries. But the barnyard matron was too much 

 absorbed in her own maternal anxieties to pay- 

 any heed to the midget buzzing and squeaking 

 around her head : and madam herself seemed 

 to appreciate the absurdity of her proceeding, 

 for in a moment she returned to her duties, and 

 remonstrated no more. 



How shall I picture the growth and devel- 

 opment of the twins in that cherished home! 

 Where shall I find words delicate and subtle 

 enough to describe the change as I saw it from 

 day to day, from puny atoms the size of a 

 honey-bee to fledged and full-grown humming- 

 birds ! Every morning, watching and waiting 

 till the whole of our little world was at break- 

 fast, I drew down the fateful branch and in- 

 dulged in a long, close look at them, and no 

 language at my^ command is adequate to de- 

 scribe the process of unfolding. 



At first sight of the two I was lost in amaze- 

 ment. Could those minute, caterpillar-like ob- 

 jects, covered with scanty and scattering hairs, 

 lying side by side in the bottom of their minia- 

 ture cradle, be the offspring of the winged sprites 

 of the bird-world? Would those short, wide, 

 duck-like beaks ever become the needle-shaped 

 probers of flowers ? Would wings ever grow 



