BEAKS THAT FIT INTO FLOWERS 115 
the beak of the Humming-bird that feeds on the 
nectar of that flower must be straight too, but if it 
Is curved, then, of course, the beak must be curved, 
or else how could it be pushed into it ? 
And if the nectary of any flower (for that is what 
the place that the nectar is in is called) were shaped 
like a corkscrew, then the beak of the Humming-bird 
that sucked out the nectar from shat flower would 
have to be shaped like a corkscrew too. But there 
are no flowers shaped like that, and so there are no 
Humming-birds with corkscrew beaks, like the tail of 
a periwinkle. But there is a flower that has its 
nectary, or honey-tube, bent round into almost a half 
circle, and it is just that one Humming-bird that has 
its beak bent in the same way, that sips the nectar from 
that flower. No other One is able to do it, and 
there is no other flower that that Humming-bird can 
sip the nectar from. 
And there are more than 400 different kinds of 
Humming-birds, and the beak of every one of them 
must fit into some flower or another, and often into a 
great many more than one. Oh then, what a lot 
of different kinds of flowers there must be, for all 
these beaks to fit into! Ah, there are indeed, for it 
is in the great forests or plains of America—the 
largest in the whole world—or on the slopes of the 
great mountain ranges there—the highest in the 
