BIRDS OF THE AIR. 259 



mon Pewee. It seems likewise to have the same cheer- 

 ful manners. The minor notes of the two Pewees serve, 

 more than any others equally simple, to harmonize the 

 anthem of Nature. 



THE HUMMING-BIRD. 



The Humming-Birds, of which it is said there are more 

 than four hundred species, are among the most exquisite 

 of all animated beings. They unite the beauty and deli- 

 cacy of a beautiful insect with the organization and 

 intelligence of a creature of flesh and blood. Of all 

 the feathered tribe, none will compare with them in 

 the minuteness of their size. The splendor, variety, and 

 changeableness of their hues are no less admirable than 

 their diminutiveness. The colors of the rainbow do not 

 surpass those of many of the species either in beauty or 

 variety. A brilliant metallic lustre greatly enhances all 

 this splendor. The variability of their hues, which is also 

 observed in many other birds, is in the Humming-Birds 

 almost unaccountable. Says Dr. Brewer : " The sides of 

 the fibres of each, feather are of a different color from the 

 surface, and change as seen in a front or an oblique direc- 

 tion ; and, while living, these birds by their movements 

 can cause their feathers to change very suddenly to 

 different hues. Thus the Selasphorus rufus can change in 

 a twinkling the vivid fire color of its expanded throat to 

 a light green ; and the species known as the Mexican 

 Star, changes from a light crimson to an equally brilliant 

 blue." 



Yet with all their beauty of color, what is most attrac- 

 tive about them is their flight. When a Humming-Bird 

 is flying, so rapid are the motions of its wings that it 

 seems like the body of a bird suspended in a circle of 

 radiating sunbeams, or like one in the midst of a globe 



