Seen and Lost. 367 



One of my earliest experiences of seeing and 

 losing relates to a humming-bird a veritable 

 " jewel of ornithology." I was only a boy at the 

 time, but already pretty well acquainted with the 

 birds of the district I lived in, near La Plata River, 

 and among them were three species of the humming- 

 bird. One spring day 1 saw a fourth a wonderful 

 little thing, only half as big as the smallest of the 

 other three the well-known Phai'thornis splendens 

 and scarcely larger than a bumble-bee. I was 

 within three feet of it as it sucked at the flowers, 



A lost TTrmiming-bird. 



suspended motionless in the air, the wings appear- 

 ing formless and mist- like from their rapid vibratory 

 motion, but the rest of the upper plumage was seen 

 distinctly as anything can be seen. The head and 

 neck and upper part of the back were emerald green, 

 with the metallic glitter usually seen in the burnished 

 scale-like feathers of these small birds; the lower 

 half of the back was velvet-black ; the tail and tail- 

 coverts white as snow. On two other occasions, at 

 intervals of a few days, I saw this brilliant little 

 stranger, always very near, and tried without success 



