90 



UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



most happy. This is his day of wildest 

 glee. Not content with drawing up the 

 sweet nectar, he robs the flower of its golden 

 pollen. Fairly intoxicated with delight, 

 he rolls over and over amongst the stamens 

 until he is covered with the yellow grains. 

 Then, retiring to one side, he combs him- 

 self with his front legs and rolls the pollen 

 into balls which he claps into his bristly 

 pockets on his hind legs. These pellets he 

 carries home to be food for the bee babies. 



THE GLEAM OF THE HUMMING-BIRD 



But while the bumblebees are hovering 

 over the clover and the crab-apple, per- 

 forming for them their very helpful service, 

 a far higher and daintier animal is doing a 

 similarly valuable work for the wild azaleas 

 that are blooming in such luxuriant pro- 

 fusion on our hill-sides. 



Where did the humming-bird learn its 

 flight ? It is surely all its own. The hawk 

 may soar, the kingbird may hover for a few 

 seconds, but the hummer can poise in the 

 same spot indefinitely. Soaring is like the 



