114 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



darted off, so rapidly that the eye could hardly follow 

 it, to resume its capers in another place. 



The first one I ever shot was when, as now, I was 

 bathing in a shady pool. A whitethroat came beat- 

 ing about the stream, its broad tail of pure white and 

 the white crescent at its throat contrasting beautifully 

 with the blue and glossy green of its body. At the 

 report of my gun (which was loaded with a pinch of 

 powder and a little dust-shot) a troubling of the sur- 

 face of the stream, such as the falling of a leaf would 

 have caused, told me that my aim had been true, and 

 I hastily ran to secure it, all naked as I was. 



So many " hummers " fluttering about could not 

 long remain without a quarrel, for these little sprites 

 are pugnacious rascals, brave to rashness. Suddenly 

 two of them penetrated the screen of flowers and en- 

 gaged before my face in mimic battle, chirping and 

 beating their wings in fury. In a twinkling one 

 dropped to the surface of the pool, fluttering down 

 like a feathery snowflake ; but no sooner touched the 

 water than it darted upward and flew into the forest, 

 its antagonist remaining dancing in mid-air, lik-e the 

 fairy that he was. 



This humming bird is just a little over five inches 

 in length, and another species, found more in open 

 woods and fields, called the ruby, is half an inch 

 shorter. This latter species has a brilliant ruby crest, 

 and glows all over like a coal of fire. A naturalist, 

 who made these birds a subject of study, says that he 

 once found in the stomach of one of them more 

 than a hundred ants, showing conclusively that their 



