29G HISTOUY OF 



several threads, dyed in water-colours, round the legs of a great 

 number of swallows that were preparing for their departure ; 

 these, upon their return the ensuing summer, brought their 

 threads back with them, no way damaged in their colour ; which 

 t hey most certainly would, if, during the winter, they had been 

 steeped in water : yet still this is a subject on which we must 

 suspend our assent, as Kleim, the naturalist, has brought such a 

 number of proofs in defence of his opinion, that swallows are 

 torpid in winter, as even the most credulous must allow to have 

 some degree of probability. 



CHAP. VI. 



THE HUMMING-BIRD, AND ITS VARIETIES. 



Having given some history of the manners of the most re- 

 markable birds of which accounts can be obtained, I might now 

 go to a very extensive tribe, remarkable for the splendour and 

 the variety of their plumage : but the description of the colours 

 of a beautiful bird, has nothing in it that can inform or enter- 

 tain ; it rather excites a longing, which it is impossible for words 

 to satisfy. Naturalists, indeed, have endeavoured to satisfy 

 this desire by coloured prints ; but, beside that these at best 

 give only a faint resemblance of nature, and are a very indiffe- 

 rent kind of painting, the bird itself has a thousand beauties 

 that the most exquisite artist is incapable of imitating. They, 

 for instance, who imagine they have a complete idea of the 

 beauty of the little tribe of manikin birds, from the pictures we 

 have of them, will find themselves deceived, when they com- 

 pare their draughts with nature. The shining greens, the 

 changeable purples, and the glossy reds, are beyond the reach 

 of the pencil ; and very far beyond the coloured print, which is 

 but a poor substitute to painting. I have therefore declined en- 

 tering into a minute description of foreign birds of the sparrow 

 kind ; as sounds would never convey an adequate idea of co- 

 lours. 



There is one species, however, that I will conclude the his- 

 tory of this class with ; as, though the least, it will certainly be 



