322 THE LIFE OF A BIRD. 



Words cannot better express the helpless con- 

 dition of the chick, and the lively solicitude of its 

 parents, than does the following account, written 

 by the great American ornithologist, of the ruby- 

 throated humming-bird at this interesting period 

 of its life. " Could you, kind reader, cast a mo- 

 mentary glance on the nest of the humming-bird, 

 and see, as I have seen, the newly hatched pair of 

 young, little larger than humble-bees, naked, blind, 

 and so feeble as scarcely to be able to raise their 

 little bill to receive food from the parents ; and 

 could you see those parents, full of anxiety and 

 fear, passing and repassing within a few inches of 

 your face, alighting on a twig not more than a 

 yard from your person, waiting the result of your 

 unwelcome visit in a state of the utmost despair 

 you could not fail to be impressed with the deep- 

 est pangs which parental affection feels on the 

 unexpected death of a cherished child. Then how 

 pleasing is it, on your leaving the spot, to see the 

 returning hope of the parents, when, after exam- 

 ining the nest, they find their nurselings un- 

 touched ! You might then judge how pleasing it 

 is to a mother of another kind to hear the phy- 

 sician who has attended her sick child assure 



