THE HUMMING-BIRD. 287 



large size, were fanning the air with their yellow and 

 black wings. At this moment a little blazing meteor 

 shot, like a glowing coal of fire, across the glen ; and I 

 saw for the first time, with admiration and astonishment, 

 what in a moment I recognised, that resplendent living 

 gem, the Humming-bird ! buzzing like a humble-bee, 

 which it exactly resembled in its flight and sound : like 

 it, it sprang through the air by a series of simultaneous, 

 impulses, tracing angle after angle with the velocity of 

 lightning ; till, poised above its favourite flower, all mo- 

 tion seemed lost in its very intensity, and the humming 

 sound alone certified to the ear the rapid vibration of its. 

 wing, by which it supported its little airy form." 



They vary from the size of a humble-bee to that of 

 a Willow-Wren ; the nests of the smaller sort appear- 

 ing more like mossy knots on a branch, than the manu- 

 facture of a bird, not exceeding an inch in diameter, and 

 formed of the most delicate materials. They will build 

 fearlessly within sight of a window, where they may be 

 leisurely observed. They frequently assemble in great 

 numbers round some sorts of flowers, yielding those 

 sweet juices which, together with insects, compose their 

 food. The aloe is one of them. A gentleman in Ja- 

 maica thus describes them hovering round a plot of 

 these plants, covering nearly twenty square yards, of 

 which about a dozen were in full bloom. " The spikes, 

 bearing bunches of flowers, Avere from twelve to fifteen 

 feet high ; on each spike were many hundred blossoms, 

 of a bright yellow colour, each of a tubular shape, and 

 containing its drop of honey. These alone afforded," as 

 he says, " a splendid scene ; but the interest was doubled 

 by the addition of vast numbers of Humming-birds, flut- 

 tering round the openings of the flowers, and dipping 

 their bills first into one floret and then into another, the 

 sun shining bright upon their beautiful plumage, giving 

 them the appearance of, now a ruby, then a topaz, then 

 an emerald, and then all burnished gold." 



Delicate and tender as these little creatures are, seem- 



