Biiius. 2!j9 



place ; tor, iis tlie egg is so siiuill, the exposing it ever so short a 

 time to the weather would be apt to injure its contents, the sur- 

 face exposed being so great i-n comparison to the bulk. The 

 time of incubation continues twelve days ; at the end of which 

 the young ones appear, much about the size of a blue-bottle fly. 

 They are at first bare ; by degrees they are covered with down ; 

 and at last feathers succeed, but less beautiful at first than those 

 of the old ones. 



" Father Labat's comj)anion in the mission to America, found 

 the nest of a humming-bird, in a shed that was near the dwell- 

 bouse, and took it in at a time when the young ones were about 

 fifteen or twenty days old ; he then placed them in a cage at his 

 chamber-window, to be amused by their sportive fliitterings ; 

 but he was soon surprised to see the old ones, that came and 

 fed their brood regularly every hour in the day. By these means 

 they themselves soon grew so tame that they seldom quitted the 

 chamber; but without any constraint came to live with their 

 young ones. All four have frequently come to perch upon their 

 master's hand, chirruping as if they had been at liberty abroad. 

 He fed them with a very fine clear paste, made of wine, biscuit, 

 and sugar ; they thrust their ton^ es into this paste, till they 

 were satisfied, and then fluttered and chirruped about the room. 

 I never beheld any thing more agreeable," continuoR he, " than 

 this lovely little family that had taken possession of my com- 

 panion's chamber, and that flew out and in just as they thought 

 proper ; but were ever attentiv^e to the voice of their maste* 

 when he called them. In this manner they lived with him for 

 above six months ; but at a time when he expected to see a new 

 colony formed, he unfortunately forgot to tie up their cage to 

 the cieling at night to preserve them from the rats, and he found 

 they were devoured in the morning." 



These birds on the continent of America, continue to flutter 

 the year round ; as their food, which is the honey of flowers, 

 never forsakes them in those warm latitudes where they are 

 found. But it is otherwise in the islands of the Antilles, where, 

 when the winter season approaches, they retire, and, as some 

 say, continue in a torpid state during the severity of that season. 

 At Surinam and Jamaica, where they constantly have flowers, 

 these beautiful birds are never known to disappear. 



It is a doubt whether or not these birds have a continued note 



