INGENUITY OF A HUMMING-BIRD. 331 



while she with intense anxiety dries and cherishes 

 them. They grow up day after day ; the hole 

 becomes nearly filled with their increasing bulk : 

 the vigilance and industry of the parents also 

 augment apace. I wish you would seek out such 

 a sight ; it would gladden your heart ; for the 

 rearing of such a family is worthy of your contem- 

 plation." The American farmers, however, do 

 not regard this pretty picture in the same light as 

 the enthusiastic Audubon, for it appears that the 

 purple grakle is a little too fond of sharing the 

 corn of the field with its proper owner ; and there 

 is little doubt, that, were he to see the happy family 

 thus growing up only to thrive upon his golden 

 ears, his sentiments would scarcely correspond 

 with those which Audubon thinks his description 

 is calculated to convey. 



A most interesting and remarkable account of 

 the ingenuity of a parent humming-bird, at this 

 period in the life of the chick, has been narrated by 

 Captain Lyon. The original will be found in the 

 fifth volume of the Zoological Journal, and con- 

 sists simply of an extract far too short, and in- 

 sufficient in its detail of an observation made by 

 this gentleman, and communicated in a letter to 



