368 The Naturalist in La Plata. 



to capture it, after which it disappeared from the 

 plantation. Four years later I saw it once again not 

 far from the same place. It was late in summer, 

 and I was out walking on the level plain where the 

 ground was carpeted with short grass, and nothing 

 else grew there except a solitary stunted cardoon 

 thistle-bush with one flower on its central stem 

 above the grey-green artichoke- like leaves. The 

 disc of the great thorny blossom was as broad as 

 that of a sunflower, purple in colour, delicately 

 frosted with white ; on this flat disc several insects 

 were feeding flies, fireflies, and small wasps and 

 I paused for a few minutes in my walk to watch 

 them. Suddenly a small misty object flew swiftly 

 downwards past my face, and paused motionless in 

 the air an inch or two above the rim of the flower. 

 Once more my lost humming-bird, which I remem- 

 bered so well ! The exquisitely graceful form, half 

 circled by the misty moth-like wings, the glittering 

 green and velvet-black mantle, and snow-white tail 

 spread open like a fan there it hung like a beau- 

 tiful bird-shaped gem suspended by an invisible gos- 

 samer thread. One two three moments passed, 

 while I gazed, trembling with rapturous excitement, 

 and then, before I had time to collect my faculties 

 and make a forlorn attempt to capture it with my 

 hat, away it flew, gliding so swiftly on the air that 

 form and colour were instantly lost, and in 

 appearance it was only an obscure grey line traced 

 rapidly along the low sky and fading quickly out of 

 sight. And that was the last I ever saw of it. 



The case of this small " winged gem," still wan- 

 dering nameless in the wilds, reminds me of yet 



