THE HUMMING-BIRD, 



261 



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 Jamaica 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, were 

 from twelve to fifteen feet high ; on each spike were many 



Fiery Topaz and Hermit. 



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, fluttering 

 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 



