AFTERWARD. 



[OCT. 



tears were falling on his head, 

 they started to withdraw. 



But she saw them and stretched out her arms. 

 " Oh, dear boys," she cried, " you have kept 



Very quietly, your promise! Let me thank you. Come in 

 come in! " 



And Marshall, with a happy face, sprang up 

 and brought them to his mother. 



THE END. 



THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD. 



BY HENRY HALES. 



THE brilliant little humming-birds are the 

 most exquisite of all birds. They are called the 

 gems of bird life. They are more. No gems 

 in any diadem sparkle as they sparkle. They 

 flash with a radiance and brilliancy not equaled 

 by any other of nature's brightest jewels, even 

 among the gaudy butterflies. Every change of 

 light or movement reveals a new color on 

 their iridescent feathers, changing like the glint 

 of light on a diamond, but with stronger effect 

 in color. Not known outside of the American 

 continent and its islands, what a surprise they 

 must have been to the early explorers! And 

 they still keep surprising us as new species are 

 discovered. Not many years ago one hun- 

 dred and fifty species was supposed to be 

 about the number; now it is nearly .four hun- 

 dredabout as many as all the species of birds 

 breeding in the United States. What a variety 

 of lovely forms and delicate, fantastic, eccen- 

 tric freaks in feather, as well as color like the 

 unique tropical orchids! Nature seems to 



exhaust herself in fascinating, delightful oddi 

 ties. Had they been known in the old-work 

 fairy-lands, we think they must have figurec 

 as ariel sprites, so quickly do they presen 

 themselves, so quickly disappear. 



We of the chilly North must be satisfiec 

 with this one representative of this numerou 

 little family, and be thankful for that ; and as 

 there is a great similarity in their habits of living, 

 flying, building, and feeding, our little Ruby- 

 throat must, in a degree, stand as a deputy for 

 all his Southern brethren, whom he visits every 

 winter. He sips the charming flowers of the 

 tropics, returning in the spring. He arrives in 

 Florida early in March, gradually going north as 

 the flowers open before him, then going farther 

 north, passing the northern boundary of the 

 United States about the ist of June, breeding 

 as far north as the Saskatchewan plains, west 

 to the Missouri Valley and Texas. Some of 

 them remain in Florida. 



The flight of this little bird is more remark- 



