SOUTH AMERICA. 117 



truly be called the bird of paradise ; and had it SECOND 



JOURNEY. 



existed in the old world, it would have claimed 



the title instead of the bird which has now the 

 honour to bear it : see it darting through the air 

 almost as quick as thought ! now it is within a 

 yard of your face ! in an instant gone ! now it 

 flutters from flower to flower to sip the silver dew 

 it is now a ruby now a topaz now an emerald 

 now all burnished gold! It would be arrogant 

 to pretend to describe this winged gem of nature 

 after Buffon's elegant description of it. 



Cayenne and Demerara produce the same hum- Haunts of 

 ming-birds. Perhaps you would wish to know 

 something of their haunts. Chiefly in the months 

 of July and August, the tree called Bois Immortel, 

 very common in Demerara, bears abundance of 

 red blossom, which stays on the tree for some 

 weeks ; then it is that most of the different species 

 of humming-birds are very plentiful. The wild 

 red sage is also their favourite shrub, and they 

 buzz like bees round the blossom of the wallaba 

 tree. Indeed, there is scarce a flower in the 

 interior, or on the sea-coast, but what receives 

 frequent visits from one or other of the species. 



On entering the forests, on the rising land in 

 the interior, the blue and green, the smallest 

 brown, no bigger than the humble bee, with two 

 long feathers in the tail, and the little forked-tail 

 purple-throated humming-birds, glitter before you 

 in ever-changing attitudes. One species alone 



