THE HUMMING-BIRD 



vtay Flutter er of the changeful plume, 

 Born in Columbian wilds to stray, 



Where Nature boasts perpetual bloom, 

 And smiles unconscious of decay, 



Thy favour'd Race on lucid wing 



From flower to flower, from grove to grove, 

 Like living gems are seen to spring, 



And thro' the vivid landscape rove. 



Where bending o'er the fragrant, field, 

 Mimosas t quiv'ring branches sweep, 



Deep in their downy nest conceal'd 

 Secure thy speckled infants sleep. 



The sun thy friend, the flower thy bed, 

 Thy drink the nectar of its cell, 



Luxuriant Nature smiling round, 



What Muse thy varying joys can tell? 



Had but Anacreon's fate allow'd 

 Thy life and brighter charms to see, 



His fam'd Cicada had been scorn'd, 

 And thou his better deity! 



Shaw. 



* There are several species of the Humming Bird, but the smallest variety is of the size of an hazel-nut. It is inconceivable how much 

 these add to the high finishing and beauty of a fine western landscape. As soon as the sun is risen, the Humming Birds, of different kinds, 

 are seen fluttering about the flowers, without ever lighting upon them. Their wings are in such rapid motion, that it is impossible to discern 

 their precise colours, except their glittering. They are never still, but continually in motion, visiting flower after flower, and extracting its 

 honey by a forky tongue, which they throw out like the proboscis of the bee, and commit their thefts in the gentlest manner. The constant 

 division of the air creates a pleasing murmuring noise, and gives them their appellation. They sleep perched upon flowers, and hang their 

 little nests in air, at the extremity of a small twig, lined with cotton, laying two eggs of a dazzling white, here and there speckled with 

 yellow, and feed their young with the same sweet food as nourishes themselves. 



f The Mimosas are the natural denizens of South America, although the grand\flora was first met with, I believe, in China. 



