of North Carolina. 199 



The llumming Bird is the least of all iiirds, yet well 

 known in the World, and may properly be said to be the 

 miracle of all Winged Animals, for it is Feather'd like a 

 Bird and gets its living as the Bee does, by sucking the 

 Honey from each Flower. They are of different Colours, 

 but the Cocks are more beautiful than the Hens, with variety 

 of Colours, such as Bed, Green, Aurora, and several other 

 beautiful Colours, which being exposed to the Sun Beams 

 shines admirably. They have long Bills and Tails, consid- 

 ering their bigness, w^hich is scarce equal to a Spanish Olive. 

 In some of the larger sort of Flowers they very often bury 

 themselves, so that they are quite covered, to suck the bottom 

 of them, by which means the Children commonly catch them 

 whilst they are thus feeding; and I have seen of them nour- 

 ished and kept alive in Cages for six Weeks, on Honey. 

 They fly very nimbly (but more like Insects than Birds) from 

 Flower to Flower, to seek their Food and make a humming 

 noise like a Hornet or Bee, hence it took it's ^ame in English 

 of Humming-hird. They remain and breed here during the 

 heat of the Summer, but wdiat becomes of them in the V^ in- 

 ter is not knowm, for they never appear at that time, viz. from 

 October 'till April. They are so very small that I have fre- 

 quently seen the Butter-flies chace them away from the 

 Flowers. Their Xests are a great Curiosity, and may prop- 

 erly be said to be one of the gTeatest pieces of Workmanship 

 the whole species of winged Animals can shew, for it com- 

 monly hangs on a single Bryer most artificially Woven like 

 a round Ball, with a small Hole to go in and out, where it 

 lays and Hatches its Eggs, which are very White, of an Oval 

 figure, and for the most part but two in Xumber which are 

 no bigger than a Small Pea. What virtues these small Birds 

 may be indued with, is unknown. 



The 



