118 THE "BIRD OF THE MUSICAL WING." 



apparent indifference. It is that the small dame, 

 so intolerant of neighbors even on her feeding- 

 ground, simply cannot endure any one about 

 her, and prefers to do all her building and bring- 

 ing-up herself, with no one to " bother." Have 

 we not seen her prototype in the human world ? 

 The young hummers had been out of their 

 shells for two weeks before I saw them, and 

 then the sight was unsatisfactory, only the 

 flutter of a tiny wing, and two sharp beaks 

 thrust up above the edge. But after this day 

 beaks were nearly always to be seen, and some- 

 times a small round head, or a glistening white 

 tongue, or the point of a wing appeared to en- 

 courage me. Baby days were now fast passing 

 away ; the mother fed industriously, and the 

 " pair of twins," waxed strong and pert, sat up 

 higher in the nest, and began the unceasing wag 

 of the head from side to side, like their mother. 

 What a fairy-like world was this they were now 

 getting acquainted with ! What to them was 

 the presence of human beings, with their inter- 

 ests, their anxieties, and their cares, passing 

 far below on the road, or what even the solitary 

 bird -student, sitting hour after hour by the 

 rocks in silence, turning inquisitive eyes upon 

 them ? The green tree was their world, and 

 their mother was queen. Valiantly did this in- 

 defatigable personage drive away every intruder, 



