THE HUMMING-BIRD. 63 



or volatile, from the wolf to the raven and the wren. It seems 

 to divert itself with alternately alluring or terrifying other birds, 

 and to sport with their hopes and their fears. Sometimes it en- 

 tices them with the call of their mates, and on their approach, 

 terrifies them with the screams of the eagle or some other bird 

 of prey. It frequents the habitations of mankind, and is easily 

 domesticated. It builds its nest in the fruit trees, near the 

 houses of the planters; and sitting, sometimes most of the night, 

 on the tops of their chimneys, assumes its own native melody, 

 and pours forth the sweetest and most various strains. 



THE HUMMING-BIRD, 



From its diminutive size, and the resplendency of its colours, 

 is not less an object of curiosity than is the mock-bird from the 

 endless variety of its notes. This beautiful little creature admits 

 of six or seven varieties, distinguished by successive gradations, 

 from the size of the wren to that of the bumblebee. It is, how- 

 ever, furnished with a bill, with wings, and all the ordinary ap- 

 pendages of the larger species. 



The smallest of this species is not larger than a hazel-nut. Its 

 , wings and tail are black ; but the feathers under the wings are 

 of a greenish brown, with a fine red cast, and bear a gloss which 

 no silk or velvet can equal. On its head it has a small golden 

 crest, which sparkles in the sun with all the brilliancy of a star: 

 the bill is straight and slender, and about the length of a small- 

 sized pin. The large humming-bird is not half so big as our 

 wren. It is not adorned with a gilded crest ; but from the 

 throat half-way down the belly, its crimson-coloured feathers are 

 beautiful beyond conception, and vary according to the reflec- 

 tions of the light. The head of the humming-bird is exceedingly 

 small, and its round eyes are as black as ebony. 



Imagination can scarcely conceive how much the numerous 

 tribes of this diminutive species enliven and embellish an Amer- 

 ican landscape. As soon as the sun appears above the horizon, 

 humming-birds of different kinds and various sizes are seen, 

 fluttering incessantly about the flowers which the country pro- 

 duces in abundance. The rapid motion of their wings renders 

 it impossible to distinguish their colours, which seem blended in 

 one general effulgence, and produce a kind of humming sound, 

 from which their name is derived. Their sole food appears to 

 be the honey which they extract from the flowers ; and for the 

 purpose of procuring this kind of aliment, Nature has provided 

 them with forked tongues, completely formed for entering the 

 cups, and drawing forth the nectareous juices. 



The nests of these birds are, like themselves, a natural cu- 

 riositv. They are curiously suspended from the very point of a 

 7* 



