THE HUMMINGBIRD. 367 



Nor do these marvelous manifestations of beauty serve any 

 necessary purpose whatever in the mode of their existence. 

 The theory of "Struggle for Life" certainly affords no 

 explanation of either their origin or their continuance. 

 Here evidently are beauty and ornament for their own 

 sake, and that of the most astounding and transcendent 

 kind. And why should these "Glittering Fragments of the 

 Rainbow " be found only in " the tropical forests " and 

 " amid the rich drapery of the orchids " of the New World, 

 if mere physical causes are to account for their origin ? As 

 we gaze upon these tiny objects of the most delicate and 

 flaming beauty, our aesthetic nature moving us to tears, let 

 us acknowledge that the hand which made them is Divine. 



The European Sparrow (Passer domesticus), now so com- 

 mon about our houses both in the city and in the country vil- 

 lages, is so well known as to need no description in a work 

 like this. Suffice it to say, it is not a favorite, and the 

 utility of its immigration is doubtful. 



