NEST OF HUMMING-BIRD. 91 



given to these structures, while so large a share 

 has been bestowed upon birds themselves. 



Perhaps no structure, in form, or size, or 

 beauty, is so remarkable as the nest of the hum- 

 ming-bird. This exquisite fabric, often seated on 

 the upper side of a horizontal branch, is not more 

 in some instances than an inch in diameter, and as 

 much in depth : yet it is formed with as much or 

 even more art than many of its larger companion- 

 nests. The nest is round and cup-shaped, and 

 might well form the hand-bowl of a fairy. The 

 materials which enter into its composition are 

 lichens, the downy parts of seeds, the fibres of 

 moss, &c., glued by the saliva of the bird. Mr. 

 Gosse saw one of these interesting little beings at 

 work, and watched her fly with a bunch of moss to 

 her nest, and, having seated herself in it, proceed 

 to place the new material, pressing, and arranging, 

 and interweaving, the whole with her beak, while 

 she fashioned the cup-like form of the interior by 

 the pressure of her white breast, moving round as 

 she sat. The occupants of these beautiful struc- 

 tures are as fairy-like in all their movements and 

 in their personal appearance, as in the latter 

 respect are their nests. 



