GIANTS AND DWARFS 87 



seem never to hop or walk at all. When they 

 fly, their wings, in most kinds, move so quickly 

 that, like a bee's or moth's, they cannot be 

 clearly seen, and they go up and down, from 

 side to side, with the greatest ease, and in 

 quite a small space ; a humming-bird search- 

 ing under leaves or up a trunk for insects, will 

 not settle anywhere, but keep moving about 

 on the wing, and when sucking honey from a 

 flower, will hang motionless in the air till it 

 has drunk all it can. 



It is quite possible to observe all these 

 beautiful movements in humming-birds in 

 confinement, and I was never tired of watch- 

 ing two they had at the Zoo some years ago, 

 which lived for a month, while most of their 

 unfortunate companions died in a week or 

 two. The kind to which these belonged 

 must be one of the more hardy ones, and 

 perhaps some day when people understand 

 keeping humming-birds better, it may be 

 possible to see them as a regular thing. 



At the time one used to hear a good deal 

 about the poor little creatures pining for the 

 tropical sun ; but it is quite a mistake to 

 think that all humming-birds live in hot 



