68 The Humming Bird. 



and found that instead of sunshine, it was a 

 little bird. 



" Oh, May," said Alice, " what a beautiful bird it 

 is ! See, it stays right over that flower ! It does 

 not rest on the flower. It is held up by its fluttering 

 wings. Its wings never seem to be still." 



"Yes," said May, "let's call John and see if 

 he can tell us its name." 



" John, please come here and see if you can tell 

 us the name of this bird," called Alice. 



John was working near, and came hurrying to 

 them. When he reached the girls, the bird had 

 gone, but in a minute, it came back to the 

 flowers. 



" That is a humming bird," said John. " It comes 

 here every day to make your flowers a visit. The 

 Indians call it ' a living sunbeam.' " 



" But why does it come here ? " asked May. 



" Don't you see that it runs its long bill down 

 into the flowers and gets the sweet honey they hold ? 

 In the same way, it takes any little insects that may 

 be in them." 



" There it goes ! " said Alice. " Hear it hum ! " 



" It makes that noise with its wings," said John. 

 " It flies so swiftly that we can hardly see that it 

 has wings." 



