67 



ORNITHOLOGY. 



NATURAL HISTORY OF HUMMING-BIRDS, 



Like Fairy Sprites, a thousand birds 

 Glance by on golden wing, 

 Birds lovelier than the lovely hues 

 Of the bloom wherein they sing. 



IN our first volume, devoted to the illustration of 

 a portion of this splendid tribe of birds, we endea- 

 voured to collect all the information contained in the 

 numerous voyages of discovery, and the expensive 

 and elegant works which have been devoted to their 

 natural history *. It cannot, therefore, now be ex- 

 pected that we have discovered many additional facts 

 regarding their curious habits and economy. But 

 in our farther researches, we have been led more and 

 more to wonder at the brightness of their external 

 covering, and to admire the wisdom which has so 

 admirably adapted the structure to the wants of 



*The best work, describing the Humming-birds, is three 

 beautiful volumes by Lesson, containing 219 plates, most 

 delicately executed. 



