ORNITHOLOGY. 449 



It was their own activity in g-athering- food for their spring- broods 

 which, perhaps, made the fine berry crop possible. Let him be 

 industrious and ingenious enough to bag his grapes and screen his 

 strawberries, thoughtfully and justly leaving* out enoug-h to paj^ 

 robin for his work. 



"'Tis love that makes the world go round," not selfishness. Sel- 

 fishness clogs the wheels, and blinds us often to our real, true 

 interests, and makes us have a much harder tiine. 



A thoughtful interest given to that other world of life which goes 

 on in the tree-tops will tide us over inany a weary hour. Sonietiines 

 one is favored with a nearer personal acquaintance with individuals. 

 Shall I ever forget the delightful experience I once had with arubj^- 

 throated humming bird in a Virginia flower garden? These true 

 children of the tropics are very sensitive to cold, and I found inj^ 

 little beauty, one cold morning in September, perched on a twig of 

 petunias, benumbed with the frosty air. I took him carefully in my 

 hand and carried hina into the house, where he soon became lively. 

 I tried to feed him with a drop of melted sugar. He soon grew quite 

 fond of the dainty, two drops at a time being sufficient to satisfy 

 him. This he would take froin the end of my little finger, running 

 the long wiry black tong-ue around and beneath the nail, as if it were 

 a flower. In four hours he would fly to me and light upon a little 

 twig which I held out to him, to g-et his treat; then away again to 

 the top of a picture frame or,sometimes, the back of a chair. When- 

 ever he alighted, it was always accompanied by a little cry inuch 

 like the squeak of a mouse. I have since heard this from wild 

 humming birds. One day we gave him some liquid honey in a 

 sinall dish. He tumbled in from the edge through the zeal of the 

 small person who was trying to feed him, and was in a deplorable 

 pickle, for the tiny wings were so clogged he could not fly, and the 

 fine soft feathers on his breast w^ere a mass of stickiness. I soaked 

 the little wings in tepid water, and released them, but how to cleanse 

 the little green and gold body! Finally, I took the eye end of a large 

 sewing needle, and dipping it frequently in the warm water tried to 

 comb out the feathers. He was perched on a twig held in my left 

 hand, free to fly if he chose, but there he staid and let me work with 

 him, only moving along a trifle on his perch and squeaking- a little? 

 as inuch as to say, " Yes, get it off, only please be gentle." 



I have never happened to see a wild humming bird bathe, but this 

 little bird much enjoyed splashing the water over himself from the 

 bowl of a silver spoon held in my hand. At night he went to bed by 

 fovir o'clock perched on a twig in the window, -which I trimtned with 

 flowering branches for him — a little green and gold and ruby gem, 

 with tiny head hidden under tiny wings. The little perfect bird 

 form seemed far more exquisite in proportions when quietly perched 

 than when hovering- or flying. 



How little we really know about these birds! Did one ever see a 

 flock in migration? And how can they endure the long flight? I 

 do not mean from Virginia, but we have the same kind in Minnesota- 

 Dr. Hatch says it is the only kind found here. 



My bird was with me but a few daj^s. One evening at twilight 



