442 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS, 



tlicir fli,q;lit, are so insoct-like. Tlioy pnss from Imsh to busli as if suspended 

 in tlic iiir, iuid pause over eaili llower, vibrating tiieir wings, in jn-ecisuly tiie 

 same manner with tiie Sphinxes, and witli the same humming sounds. 



The lligiit of tiio Huinming-J5ird is of two kinds. One of tiiese is used 

 for a Iiorizontal movement, and is so rapid that one can hardly follow it 

 with the eye. Tliis is acconii)anied hy a kind of hissing sound. The other 

 seems to keep the body in the air immovable, in one spot. For the latter 

 purpose tlie liird assumes a position nearly vertical, and beats its wings with 

 great intensity. These organs must vibrate all the more rapidly, because 

 the innnobility of tiie body re(|uires a shorter stroke, and therefore the more 

 iVeipiently repeated. Tlie etiuilibriuni of the body is preserved by the alter- 

 nate up and down strokes of the wings, no inconsiderable force being re- 

 • [uiri'd to keej) its immobility, besides that requisite for neutralizing the 

 weight of the liody. 



The Hinnming-l'.ird is entirely aerial. They pass with the rapidity of an 

 arrow, stop, rest for a few secmids on some small branch, and then sud- 

 denly depart with so much rajiidity that wo cannot trace its Hight. They 

 disappear as if by enchantment. Tlieir life is one of feverish excitement. 

 They seem to live more intensely than any other being on our globe. From 

 morning to night they traverse the air in (piest of honeyed Howers. They 

 come like a flash of light, assume a vertical position without any support, 

 tln-ow their tail forward, expanding it like a fan, vibrating their wings with 

 such ra]iidity that they l)ec(jme absolutely invisible, plunging, at the same 

 time, their thread-like tongues t(t the bottom of some long corolla, and then 

 they have gone as suddenly as they came. They are never known to rest 

 on a brancii in order more at their leisure to plunge their tongue into the 

 ilower. Tlu^ir life is too short for this delay; they are in too great haste ; 

 they can only stop long enough to beat their wings before each flower for a 

 few seconds, but long enough to rt;ach its bottom and to devour its inhabi- 

 tants. WJKMi wo take into consideration how entirely aerial is their life, and 

 the prodigious relative force recpiisite to enable them to keep suspended in 

 the air during the entire day, almost incessantly, either in rapid motion or 

 accomplishing the most violent vibrations, we can but be amazed at the 

 extraordinary powers of flight and endurance they manifest. 



The Humming-Bird enjoys even the most tropical heat, avoids shade, 

 and is easily oveicome by cold. Though some travellers speak of having 

 met with these birds in the depths of forests, Saussure discredits their 

 statements, having never found any in such situations. They prefer open 

 flowery fields, meadows, gardens, and shrubbery, delighting to glitter in 

 the sun's rays, and to mingle with the swarm of resplendent insects with 

 wliich trojiical regions a1)ountl, and with the habits of which their own so 

 well accord. Xearly all live in the open sun, oidy a very few an more or 

 less crejiuscnlar and never to be seen except very early in the morning or in 

 the evening twilight. 



