THE HUMMING-BIRD. 191 



vent its being angry, and doing them any harm ! 

 Tt is one of the few trees that shed their leaves ; 

 for a tropical forest is always green and full of 

 foliage, as the new leaves come out before the 

 old ones drop. 



But, every other year, the silk-cotton tree stands 

 quite bare, and without a single leaf; and then its 

 trunk and great branches are dotted all over with 

 seed-pods. As soon as the pods are ripe they 

 burst, and out corn.es a quantity of fine silky down, 

 that is carried away by the wind. It cannot be 

 used as cotton, for it will not twist or hold toge- 

 ther, and all that can be done with it is to stuff 

 pillows and mattresses. But, as it floats hither 

 and thither, it is a rich harvest for the little 

 Humming- Birds. Hundreds of them may be 

 seen darting about, pursuing the tufts of down, 

 and carrying them away in their bills. "When 

 the nest is made, the mother bird lays two eggs 

 in it, no bigger than peas, and of a snow-white 

 colour, speckled here and there with yellow. 



She and her mate sit upon the nest by turns, 

 and never leave it a moment. At the end of 



