THE MANGO HUMMING-BIRD. 217 



where the trunks and branches of the trees are 

 clothed with brilliant parasites and spikes of 

 flowers of every hue, the Humming - Birds are 

 met with by thousands. 



And in the gardens and cultivated places they 

 are equally abundant ; and so devoid of fear, that 

 a bird will hover over a blossom while the owner 

 is plucking another from the same bush ! 



The mango itself is one of the beneficent trees 

 of the Tropics. It has great spreading branches ; 

 and the foliage is so dense that a fugitive may 

 hide amidst it, and be rarely found by his pursuers, 

 though they are searching the very tree. 



The taste of the fruit is sweet and luscious, 

 and in the season the black people live almost 

 entirely upon it. The cattle also are fed, and even 

 fattened, upon mangoes. In Jamaica, a basket of 

 mangoes may be had for the trouble of climbing 

 the tree and shaking the branches. 



