258 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Nest Eggs Temerity. 



they make with their wings, which is even louder 

 than their voice. They are gregarious; and con- 

 struct an elegant hemispherical nest, in which 

 they lay two small while eggs, that are hatched 

 by the sitting of the male and female alternately. 

 The young are often attacked and devoured by 

 spiders. 



These birds may be caught by blowing water 

 upon them from a tube; or, like many of our 

 small birds, they may be shot with sand. Small 

 as they are, they are extremely bold and pugna- 

 ceous; and their flight is very rapid. Their co- 

 lours are too brilliant to be expressed by any 

 pencil. 



This bird in general has a slender weak bill, 

 incurvated in some species, in others straight: 

 the nostrils minute : the tongue very long, and 

 formed of two conjoined cylindrical tubes: the 

 legs weak: the toes placed three forward and 

 one backward: and the tail consisting of ten 

 feathers. 



The humming bird has been so ably described 

 by a celebrated author, that we cannot do better 

 than repeat his very words; 



" A bird, not so big as the end of one's little 

 finger, would probably be supposed but a crea- 

 ture of imagination, were it not seen in infinite 

 numbers, and as frequent as butterflies in a sum- 

 mer's day, sporting in the fields of America, from 

 flower to flower, and extracting their sweets with 

 his little bill. 



