BABIES THE SIZE OF A BEE. 125 



hen and chickens, and flew at them with savage 

 cries. But the barnyard matron was too much 

 absorbed in her own maternal anxieties to pay 

 any heed to the midget buzzing and squeaking 

 around her head ; and madam herself seemed 

 to appreciate the absurdity of her proceeding, 

 for in a moment she returned to her duties, and 

 remonstrated no more. 



How shall I picture the growth and devel- 

 opment of the twins in that cherished home ! 

 Where shall I find words delicate and subtle 

 enough to describe the change as I saw it from 

 day to day, from puny atoms the size of a 

 honey-bee to fledged and full-grown humming- 

 birds ! Every morning, watching and waiting 

 till the whole of our little world was at break- 

 fast, I drew down the fateful branch and in- 

 dulged in a long, close look at them, and no 

 language at my command is adequate to de- 

 scribe the process of unfolding. 



At first sight of the two I was lost in amaze- 

 ment. Could those minute, caterpillar-like ob- 

 jects, covered with scanty and scattering hairs, 

 lying side by side in the bottom of their minia- 

 ture cradle, be the offspring of the winged sprites 

 of the bird-world? Would those short, wide, 

 duck-like beaks ever become the needle-shaped 

 probers of flowers? Would wings ever grow 



