NATURAL HISTORY. 



253 



' Upon mine honour, Sir, I heard a humming, 

 And that a strange one too, which did awake me." SHAKSPERE. 



It would be impossible for them to obtain a supply, which is only 

 to be found in these places, unless they had some power of 

 suspending their bodies ; for if they attempted to rest on the plant, 

 it would yield to their weight, and the insect would escape. 



773. Why are the humming-birds so called? 



From the sound produced 

 by the rapid motion of their 

 wings, this name is univer- 

 sally applied ; the species 

 being in the countries where 

 they most abound, known as 

 Murmunes, bourdons, and 

 Frou-frous, names of equiva- 

 lent meaning. 



774. The velocity with which these birds glance through the air is so great as to 

 elude the sight the motion of their wings appears like a thin cloud of light, and 

 when hovering before a flower they seem to be absolutely supended in the air. 



775. Why does the humming-bird, when molested, fly at and 

 peck the eyes of its adversary? 



An unerring instinct has taught it that its feebleness can in no 

 better way be protected than by this method of attack ? 



776. Mr. Bullock says : " They attack the eyes of the larger birds, and their sharp 

 needle-like bill is a truly formidable weapon in this kind of warfare. Nothing can 

 exceed their fierceness when disturbed during the breeding season." An old writer, 

 Ferdinand Ovieds, adds : " When they see a man climb the tree where they have 

 then: nests they flee at his face and stryke him in the eyes, coming, going, and 

 returning with such swiftness that no man would rightly believe it that had 

 not seen it." 



777. Why is the nest of the humming-bird constructed 

 with a view to great warmth, although within the tropics ? 



Because the diminutive size of the bird renders it incapable of 



