CHAPTER Vil 
About Humming-Birds, and Some More 
Explanations 
PERHAPS, when I was telling you about the Birds 
of Paradise and how very, very beautiful they are, you 
thought they were the most beautiful birds in the 
whole world. They are nearly, but not quite. There 
are the Humming-birds—/éHey are even more beautiful. 
At least they are more like jewels, and the Indians 
who live in the countries where they are found call 
them “living sunbeams.” 
‘‘ By western Indians living sunbeams named.” 
You can remember it by that line, which is from 
a poem by Mrs. Hemans, a clever lady whom your 
mother will tell you about. For the Indians, you 
know, live in America, that great country—so large 
that we call it ‘the new world ’—which Columbus 
discovered. They do not live in India, as you might 
think. At least, when we talk of the Indians, it is 
the ones that live in America and not India that we 
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