THE HUMMING-BIRDS 179 



regions of Central and South America, there are some 

 members of the tribe that find their way northward in 

 summer-time into Canada, and actually even into Alaska — 

 that bleak north-west corner of North America ; while 

 others have been seen in the bitterly cold southern end of 

 South America, even when snow was falling. And one 

 branch of this wonderful pigmy family prefers the bracing 

 air of the mountain-side, flitting hither and thither over the 

 bare slopes of the mighty Andes, 16,000 feet above the 

 sea-level. 



The early colonists in the Dutch and English settle- 

 ments in North America, which have since become the 

 United States, were full of surprise and admiration when 

 they saw these lovely little creatures. In a book entitled 

 Early Long Island, there are two extracts from letters 

 written from America at the time when Charles I. was 

 King of England. I give them in all their quaint 

 spelling : — 



"The Humbird is one of the wonders of the country, 

 being no bigger than a Hornet, yet having all the Demen- 

 sions of a bird, as bill, wings with quills, spider-like legges, 

 small claws. For Colour she is as glorious as the Raine 

 bow." 



The other letter speaks of a "curious small bird, con- 

 cerning which there are disputations whether it is a bird 

 or a bee. It seeks its nourishment from flowers like the 

 bee, and is everywhere seen regaling itself on the flowers. 

 In flying they make a humming noise like the bee. It is 

 only seen in Nieuw Nederlandt (New Holland) in the season 

 of flowers. They are very tender (delicate) and cannot be 

 kept alive, but we press them between paper and send 

 them to our friends." 



There are two things about the Humming-Bird which 



