288 HISTORY OF 



There is one species, however, that I will con- 

 clude the history of this class with ; as, though 

 the least, it will certainly be allowed the most 

 beautiful of all others. In quadrupeds, the small- 

 est animals are noxious, ugly, and loathsome; 

 the smallest of birds are the most beautiful, inno- 

 cent, and sportive. Of all those that flutter in 

 the garden, or paint the landscape, the Humming- 

 bird is the most delightful to look upon, and the 

 most inoffensive. 



Of this charming little animal there are six or 

 seven varieties, from the size of a small wren, 

 down to that of a humble-bee. An European 

 could never have supposed a bird existing so very 

 small, and yet completely furnished out with a 

 bill, feathers, wings, and intestines, exactly re- 

 sembling those of the largest kind. A bird not 

 so big as the end of. one's little finger, would pro- 

 bably be supposed but a creature of imagination, 

 were it not seen in infinite numbers, and as fre- 

 quent as butterflies in a summer's day, sporting 

 in the fields of America, from flower to flower, 

 and extracting their sweets with its little bill. 



The smallest humming-bird is about the size of 

 a hazel nut. The feathers on its wings and tail 

 are black ; but those on its body, and under its 

 wings, are of a greenish-brown, with a fine red 

 cast or gloss, which no silk or velvet can imitate. 

 It has a small crest on its head, green at the bot- 

 tom, and as it were gilded at the top, and which 

 sparkles in the sun like a little star in the middle 

 of its forehead. The bill is black, straight, slen- 

 der, and of the length of a small pin. The larger 



