48 About the Feathered Folk. 



flowers are all pent under hot-house 

 glass ; the butterflies are ranged in 

 glass cases ; and the birds are, all 

 of them, stuffed. My imaginings 

 must needs come far short of the 

 reality, although they have been, and 

 are, an enormous pleasure to me. 



It is delightful even to think 

 of the dazzle and beauty of the 

 palm-groves and forest-fringes, where 

 the tiny Humming-birds seem as 

 one of the gorgeous flowers about 

 them. Perhaps no plumage less 

 glittering would fit in with the 

 blossoms, the shining leaves, and 

 with the brilliant insects and reptiles 

 which in those climes "feed, un- 

 hindered, in the sun." And, just as 

 our Jenny's Brown Gown suits her 

 surroundings, so does the Jewelled 

 Robe chime in with the glitter and 

 glory of the South. 



There are more than three hundred 

 species of Humming-birds, and they 

 all live in America. 



