ANCIENT MEXICANS. 29 



that glitter like an intensely-coloured gem. The 

 execution of these feather-flowers is admirable, 

 and their effect may easily be imagined by those 

 acquainted with this group of winged gems. 



The audacity, the swiftness, the brilliancy of 

 the Humming-birds, have made a great impres- 

 sion on the natives of Mexico, and given rise to 

 a fable much more apt, much more interesting 

 and poetical than any described by Ovid, and 

 which would figure well in his Metamorposeon. 

 We learn from Humboldt, that, according to 

 the religious belief of the Mexicans, Torgamiqui, 

 the spouse of the god of war, conducted the 

 souls of those warriors who had died in the de- 

 fence of the gods into the mansion of the sun, 

 and there transformed them into Humming- 

 birds ; an idea exquisitely spiritual, but perhaps 

 only to be appreciated by those who have seen 

 these birds gleaming like meteors or shooting- 

 stars in their native regions. 



A cabinet of Humming-birds is an impressive 

 spectacle, and fills the mind not only with de- 

 light, but with deeper emotions ; for in silent, 

 but eloquent language, like the galaxy of stars 

 in the firmament, it proclaims the divine hand 

 of the Creator. There are some who like to 

 know a reason for every thing ; and such per- 

 sons may ask, for what definite purpose is all 

 this splendour given ? We can give no answer. 

 Why is the nacre of the sea-ear (Haliotis) so 

 richly iridescent? Why are the long bristles 



