ORDER PASSERES. 397 



Melo would take a vase of very clear syrup, and incline it so 

 that the bird could dip its tongue into it. He would also occa- 

 sionally give it flowers. With these precautions, the bird 

 lived as well as in the fields, and only perished through the 

 negligence of a domestic. 



These facts seem very clearly to establish, that the nectar of 

 flowers, which may be replaced by honey, syrup, or sugar in a 

 state of fusion, is a fit nutriment for these birds, notwithstand- 

 ing the contrary opinion of M. Badier. 



It would be useless to repeat all the little marvels which 

 imagination has added to the natural history of the humming 

 birds, such as their metamorphoses, lethargy during the bad 

 season, death, and resuscitation with the flowers ; and this, 

 too, in a country where there is no season without flowers. All 

 these fictions have been rejected by naturalists of good sense. 



These birds are not distrustful, and suffer themselves to be 

 approached within five or six paces, and sometimes nearer : so 

 that a person placing himself in a flowery bank may catch 

 them with a wand, covered with a gluey gum, in his hand. It 

 is sufficient to touch them when they are humming before a 

 flower ; but it requires a correct eye, as they are in perpetual 

 motion. This mode of catching them is attended with the 

 inconvenience of injuring their plumage ; therefore glue 

 should be avoided, as the only object of pursuing them is for 

 their plumage. They may be killed by shooting small peas 

 with a pop-gun, which requires very great address. They 

 may also be brought down by inundating them with water 

 from a syringe, or by using sand instead of shot in a pistol. 

 Even an explosion from the powder alone, taking aim very 

 near, will be sufficient to make them fall. A net of green 

 gauze, such as is sometimes used for butterflies, may be 

 employed, and is sure to preserve their rich plumage ; but it 

 requires great patience, and can only be used on plants and 

 dwarf shrubs. 



