156 BIRD PARADISE 



wings, and that was what he was doing and doing 

 it nicely. He moved a little up and down, but 

 remained several seconds in very nearly the same 

 place. Ah, what bird gems these little fellows 

 are ! Songless as they are they make up in other 

 ways for any lack there may be in the element of 

 music. My visitor turned around, two or three 

 times while he stayed, as though he would impress 

 me with a clear idea of his matchless suit and of 

 his matchless way of wearing it. Then the 

 movement of the bird so quickly done that I 

 could hardly follow it with the eye ! How can 

 this small creature command the strength to flash 

 from point to point annihilating distance at the 

 rate of a hundred miles an hour? When the 

 time came to close the interview my little friend 

 darted away, moving his small craft more rapidly 

 than is possible with any other bird. Tears ago 

 our hill country was visited annually by five or 

 six species of these small birds. Now only one 

 species is seen at the North, the little mby- 

 throat. I am told that there are over 400 species 

 of the humming-bird. They are essentially 

 dwellers in the tropics, some of them having a 

 very brilliant plumage. Somewhere in my lawn 

 trees I am quite sure a nest is located, but just 

 where I have not yet learned. 



