162 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



they go to the bare tree, where they preen their 

 feathers and complete their toilette, after which 

 they fly away in pairs to gather again the next 

 morning to dry their dew-drenched plumage in the 

 sun. Often at these parties the birds have been ob- 

 served to preen each other's feathers in quite a 

 friendly and efficient manner, not unlike our mod- 

 ern barbers and hair-dressers. 



Humming-birds are the most fastidious, the most 

 beautiful, and the most diminutive of all the feath- 

 ered tribe. Their native haunts are only in Amer- 

 ica, and chiefly in the parts of South America 

 where the climate is very warm. They fill the place 

 taken in the Old World by the sun-birds. In India 

 these sun-birds are often referred to as humming- 

 birds; but the real humming-birds are confined to 

 America. The brilliancy of their colours, the ele- 

 gance of their forms, and the manifold arrange- 

 ments and colour effects of their costumes is in- 

 describable. 



The broad-tailed humming-birds are most careful 

 about their toilette. Every morning they go to 

 bathe at daylight, however cold and damp the air 

 may be. They are fond of having party-baths, like 

 the old Romans, and may be seen in such numbers 

 as to remind one of a swarm of bees; hither and 

 thither they dart, in their rapid flight, dipping here 



