PREFACE. 



1 HAT early impressions of the mind are vividly retained, while events of the day flit from our 

 memory, must have been experienced by every one. How vivid, then, is my recollection of the 

 first Humming-Bird which met my admiring gaze ! with what dehght did I examine its tiny body 

 and feast my eyes on its glittering plumage ! This early impression, I well remember, gradually 

 increased into an earnest desire to attain a more intimate acquaintance with the lovely group of 

 birds to which it pertained, and was still further strengthened when an opportunity was afforded 

 me of inspecting the, at that time, unique collection of the Trochilida formed by the late Mr. 

 George Loddiges, of Hackney. This gentleman and myself were imbued with a kindred spirit 

 in the love we both entertained for this family of Hving gems. To describe the feehng which 

 animated us with regard to them is impossible ; it can, in fact, only be reahzed by those who 

 have made Natural History a study, and who pursue the investigation of its charming mysteries 

 with ardour and delight. That our enthusiasm and excitement with regard to most things 

 become lessened, if not deadened, by time, particularly when we have acquired what we vainly 

 consider a complete knowledge of the subject, is, I fear, too often the case with most of us ; not 

 so, however, I beheve with those who take up the study of the Family of Humming-Birds. 

 Certainly I can afl[irm that such is not the case with myself; for the pleasure which I experience 

 on seeing a Humming-Bird is as great at the present moment as when I first saw one. During 

 the first twenty years of my acquaintance with these wonderful works of creation, my thoughts 

 were often directed to them in the day, and my night dreams have not unfrequently carried me 

 to their native forests in the distant country of America. 



In passing through this world I have remarked that when inquirers of a strong will really set 

 themselves to attain a definite object, they generally accomplish it ; and in my own case the time 

 at length arrived when I was permitted to revel in the dehght of seeing the Humming-Birds in 

 a state of nature, and to observe their habits in the woods and among the great flowering trees 

 of the United States of America and in Canada. For some time a single Humming-Bird was my 



c 



