550 



NA TL'RA L HIS TOR Y. 



birds, has its centre in their beauty. One who has lived long in their home 

 thus writes of them : " Humming-birds are unlike other birds in their men- 

 tal qualities, resembling insects in this respect rather than warm-blooded 

 vertebrate animals. The want of expression in their eyes, the small 

 degree of versatility in their actions, the quickness and .precision of their 

 movements, are all so many points of resemblance between them and 



R.lUNER. 



Fig. 452. — Coquette humming-bird [Lophornis ornata). 



insects." And yet they are beautiful enough to make up for many deficien- 

 cies of intellect, and one cannot stand before a case of them gleaming 

 with ruby, turquoise, gold, — all the hues of the rainbow, and many 

 others which Iris never dreamed of, — and think of anything except the 

 magnificence. 



The humming-birds all belong to the New World : a few enter the 

 United States; but to see them in all their beauty one must visit the 

 tropics. In all, about four hundred species are known. Excepting their 



