:::::::::^ THE HOT LANDS OF THE PACHTC m::::::::; 



PAINTED REDSTART CAUGHT ON THORN 



owls, snakes, the elements, and a hundred others. 

 The tiny brig-ht eyes of the humming-birds, their 

 marvellous vibrating wings, and their small size protect 

 them from haAvks and all such birds of prey. They 

 fight fiercely among themselves, sometimes to the death, 

 but it is very strange that these mites of the air are 

 not more numerous — their food, the tiny insects in 

 fiowers, is so abundant^ and their nests are so well 

 concealed. 



A few months before we reached Mexico a certain 

 hummingbird had been tightly curled up in the tiniest 



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