THE MANGO HUMMING-BIRD. 45 



The indigo-plant is a child of the sun, 

 and cannot thrive anywhere but in the 

 Tropics. Indeed, it requires a certain 

 temperature to enable it to vegetate. 



It is a shrub-like plant, rising about two 

 feet from the ground, and its leaves a little 

 resemble those of the acacia. When it 

 begins to flower, the owner of the planta- 

 tion cuts it down with a sickle ; and then 

 it will sprout again, and bear a second 

 crop. In this genial clime, the planter 

 will sometimes obtain four crops a year. 



In the mighty forests of this part of the 

 world, where the trunks and branches of 

 the trees are clothed with brilliant para- 

 sites and spikes of flowers of every hue, 

 the Humming-Birds are met with by 

 thousands. 



And in the gardens and cultivated places 

 they are equally abundant ; and so devoid 

 of fear, that a bird will hover over a bios- 



