i82 THE BOOK OF BIRDS 



log in the shadow," he says, " I have watched them sipping 

 all around, flitting to and fro, coming and going, every 

 moment disappearing in the sombre shade, or suddenly 

 flashing out, with a whirr like that of a spinning-wheel, 

 into the bright sunshine. Bold and unsuspecting, they 

 might be seen exploring bush after bush, and coming, 

 while I remained motionless, even within arm's length of 

 me, busily rifling all the blossoms in rapid succession." 



Words almost fail him as he tries to convey to his 

 readers the brilliance and splendour of their colouring. 

 Listen to this. He is describing the Fiery Topaz 

 Humming- Bird. 



" The general hue is a blazing scarlet, in fine contrast 



with which the head and lower part of the throat are deep 



velvet-black. The gorget of the throat is emerald green, 



with a cloud of delicate crimson in the centre. The lower 



part of the back and the upper tail-coverts are of that 



beautiful bronzed green which changes to orange gold, so 



frequently seen in this tribe ; while the wing-quills and 



tail are purplish-black, except the middle pair of tail 



feathers, which are very slender, project to a gresit length, 



and cross each other — these are green with a purple gloss." 



Mr. Gosse was anxious to catch and tame some of these 



gorgeously-clad fairies, but the result of his attempts was 



mostly disappointing. It was not, indeed, hard to get them 



to come near or even to slip under his uplifted gauze net, 



for they were " eaten up with inquisitiveness," as we say. 



But as soon as they found themselves entangled in the folds 



they took fright, and most of them died of sheer terror 



within a few hours. 



Finally, he tried taking some of the young birds straight 

 from the nest. This plan answered much better. The tiny 

 nestlings were given syrup, and this they grew very fond 



