A HUMMING-BIRD' >S TOILET. 271 



except the wings, while she looked into the cause 

 of the disturbance, and often expressed her dis- 

 approval of our behavior in squeaky cries. 



The toilet of this lilliputian in feathers, per- 

 formed on her chosen twig as it often was, inter- 

 ested me greatly. As carefully as though she 

 were a foot or two, instead of an inch or two 

 long, did she clean and put in order every plume 

 on her little body, and the work of polishing 

 her beak was the great performance of the day. 

 This member was plainly her pride and her joy ; 

 every part of it, down to the very tip, was 

 scraped and rubbed by her claws, with the leg 

 thrown over the wing, exactly as big birds do. 

 It was astonishing to see what she could do 

 with her leg. I have even seen her pause in 

 mid-air and thrust one over her vibrating wing 

 to scratch her head. 



Then when the pretty creature was all in 

 beautiful order, her emerald - green back and 

 white breast immaculate, when she had shaken 

 herself out, and darted out and drawn back 

 many times her long bristle -like tongue, she 

 would sometimes hover along before the tips of 

 the fence-stakes, which were like laths, held an 

 inch apart by wires, collecting, I suppose, the 

 tiny spiders which were to be found there. She 

 always returned to the honeysuckle, however, to 

 finish her repast, opening and closing her tail 



