HUMMING-BIRDS. 159 



he cut the branch on which it was, and carried 

 the whole on ship-board. The bird became suf- 

 ficiently tame to suffer herself to be fed with 

 honey and water during the passage ; and hatch- 

 ed two young ones. The mother, however, did 

 not long survive ; but the young ones were 

 brought to England, and continued some time 

 in the possession of Lady Hammond. These 

 little creatures readily took honey from the lips 

 of her ladyship with their bills. One of them 

 did not live long, but the other survived at least 

 two months after their arrival." 



It is difficult to keep these lovely and delicate 

 creatures alive in a state of captivity, even in a 

 climate much more favourable to their preserva- 

 tion than ours. Dr. Latham mentions, as a rare 

 occurrence, the success of general Davis, who 

 kept several ruby humming-birds alive for some 

 months. He fed them with honey and syrup, 

 which he dropped into the tubes of artificial 

 flowers ; so that the little creatures might suck it 

 out with their long tongues, as they did from the 

 natural flowers in a state of freedom. In the 

 centre of each of these artificial flowers, a tube, 

 formed of a piece of tobacco-pipe, was fixed ; and 

 this became the receptacle of the honey. It was 

 a very elegant device, to make the drinking ves- 

 sels of the little captives resemble those natural 



