138 FAMILIAR FEATURES OF THE ROADSIDE. 



and rubies.* It is well worth while to examine a 

 peacock's tail feather under the glass ; what burning 

 hues are there! Gold and copper, emerald green 

 and cerulean blue, violet and ultramarine, purple, 

 yellow, and even such remarkable tints as lilac and 

 aquamarine green (these last are on the extreme outer 

 edge of the broad, copper-colored field, in the center 

 of which is the emerald-rimmed violet eye). We 

 can not see the lilac and green without the 'glass, 

 nor without its aid can we appreciate 

 the jewel-beauty of the tiny 

 little " hummer." He 

 is all golden - green 

 above, with wings of 

 The Eubythroat. dusky violet, and breast 



of dull pearly white ; 



but his red collar is the most remarkable part of his 

 coloring. 



The beautiful little ruby throat humming bird 

 (Trochihis colubris) belongs to a very large family; 

 he represents one of no less than five hundred spe- 



* In the Lectures on Art he says, after praising the plumage 

 of the peacock and kingfisher : " Entirely common and vulgar 

 compared with these ... we have the colors of gems. The green 

 of the emerald is the best of these, but at its best is as vulgar as 

 house-painting beside the green of bird's plumage or of clear 

 water. . . . The ruby is like the pink of an ill-dyed and half- 

 washed-out print compared to the dianthus." 



