PHAOX COMET HUMMING-BIRD. 21 



and sparkles, and glitters like one of those 

 glowing and wandering meteors above. 



Nothing can be more gorgeous than its 

 attire. The feathers of the back are a 

 deep luminous crimson, its throat is like an 

 emerald, and the magnificent tail-feathers 

 are barred with black. 



It has all the habits of its race, and 

 perhaps a larger share of courage and of 

 swiftness. It sweeps through the air with 

 whirling headlong movements. Some- 

 times the eye is wearied with these cease- 

 less evolutions, and then the bird will 

 drop, like a falling star, into some huge 

 blossom, and be hidden from sight. 



In the high table-land of Bolivia the 

 cold is intense, and the icy wind sweeps 

 over with chilling breath. The soil is 

 barren and unfruitful ; and we look in 

 vain for the birds and flowers of the 

 Tropics. But the deep sheltered valleys 



