THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 319 



light and love. In contrast to these pictures of the wander- 

 ing life of certain birds may be placed those in which, not- 

 withstanding the strength of their wings, these tenants of 

 the air live almost entirely at home, only flitting round the 

 environs of the site which nourishes them and sees^ their 

 birth. Whilst in their daring flight some of the wading 

 birds cleave their way through the clouds and sweep a 

 whole hemisphere, a little family of humming-birds have 

 only a rose-bush for their universe. Like an elegant vase 

 ornamented with lichens, the humming-bird's downy nest of 

 cotton is balanced on the extremity of the most slender 

 branches of the plant, whilst these aerial diamonds make 

 prey of the insects which the flowers attract, or drink the 

 pearls of dew which their petals distil. This is, for instance, 

 the life of the sparkling-tailed humming-bird ( Typhcena Du- 

 ponti), a charming family of which we here give as an 

 illustration, taken from the splendid plates of Gould, the 

 prince of modern ornithologists, both by his scientific knowl- 

 edge and the magnificence of his works. 



In the same manner the humming-birds, robed in chang- 

 ing green, which attract and charm all eyes, the " emeralds 

 of Brazil" (Chlorostilbon prasinus), as they are commonly 

 called, set up their family nests upon the slender pendent 

 steins of the creepers, from the vicinity of which they rarely 

 move. Rocked by the zephyr, the female broods tranquilly 

 on her eggs, while her lord flits amorously near her. Here 

 are spent all the happy days of the gentle pair. 



