550 



A HISTORY OF 



great in comparison to the bulk. The time 

 of incubation continues twelve days ; at the 

 end of which the young ones appear, much 

 about the size of a blue-bottle fly. They are 

 at first bare ; by degrees they are covered 

 with down ; and, at last, feathers succeed, but 

 less beautiful at first than those of the old ones. 



" Father Labat's companion in the mission 

 to America, found the nest of a humming- 

 bird, in a shed that was near the dwelling- 

 house, and took it in at a time when the young 

 ones were about fifteen or twenty days old ; 

 he then placed them in a cage at his cham- 

 ber-window, to be amused by their sportive 

 flutterings; but he was soon surprised to see 

 the old ones, that came and fed their brood 

 regularly every hour in the day. By these 

 means they themselves soon grew so tame 

 that they seldom quitted the chamber; but, 

 without any constraint, came to live with 

 their young ones. All four have frequently 

 come to perch upon their master's hand, chir- 

 ruping as if they had been at liberty abroad. 

 He fed them with a very fine clear paste, 

 made of wine, biscuit, and sugar: they thrust 

 their tongues into this paste, till they were 

 satisfied, and then fluttered and chirruped 

 about the room. I never beheld any thing 

 more agreeable," continues he, " than this 

 lovely little family that had taken possession 

 of my companion's chamber, and that flew 

 out and in just as they thought proper; but 

 were ever attentive to the voice of their mas- 

 ter, when he called them. In this manner 

 they lived with him for above six months ; 

 but at a time when he expected to see a new 

 colony formed, he unfortunately forgot to tie 

 up their cage to the ceiling at night, to pre- 

 serve them from the rats, and he found they 

 were devoured in the morning." 



These birds, on the continent of America, 

 continue to flutter the year round ; as their 

 food, which is the honey of flowers, never for- 

 sakes them in those warm latitudes where 

 they are found. But it is otherwise in the 

 islands of the Antilles, where, when the win- 

 ter season approaches, they retire, and, as 



some say, continue in a torpid state during 

 the severity of that season. At Surinam and 

 Jamaica, where they constantly have flowers, 

 these beautiful birds are never known to dis- 

 appear. 



It is a doubt whether or not these birds 

 have a continued note of singing. All travel- 

 lers agree, that, beside the humming, noise 

 produced by their wings, they have a little 

 interrupted chirrup; but Labat asserts, that 

 they have a most pleasing n\elancholy melo- 

 dy in their voices, though small, and propor- 

 tioned to the organs which produce it. It is 

 very probable that, in different places, their 

 notes are also different ; and as there are 

 some that continue torpid all the winter, 

 there may likewise be some with agreeable 

 voices, though the rest may in general be si- 

 lent. 



The Indians formerly made great use of 

 this pretty bird's plumage, in adorning their 

 belts and head-dress. The children take 

 them in the fields upon rings smeared with 

 bird-lime: they approach the place where 

 the birds are flying, arid twirling their rings 

 in the air, so allure them, either by the colour 

 or the sound, that the simple little creature 

 comes to rest upon the ring, and is seized. 

 They are then instantly killed and gutted, 

 and hung up in the chimney to dry. Those 

 who take greater care, dry them in a stove, 

 which is not so likely to injure the plumage 

 as the foregoing method. Their beautiful 

 feathers were once the ornament of the high- 

 est rank of savage nobility : but at present 

 they take the bird rather for the purpose of 

 selling it as a curiosity to the Europeans, than 

 that of ornament for themselves. All the 

 taste for savage finery is wearing out fast, 

 even among the Americans. They now be- 

 gin to adopt, if not the dresses of Europe, at 

 least the materials of which they are com- 

 posed. The wandering warrior is far from 

 thinking himself fine at present with his bow 

 and his feathered crown : his ambition reach- 

 es to higher ornaments; a gun, a blue shirt, 

 and a blanket. 



