l8o HUMMING BIRD. 



hopper, generally uttered while passing from flower to flower, 

 or when engaged in fight with his fellows ; for, when two 

 males meet at the same bush or flower, a battle instantly 

 takes place ; and the combatants ascend in the air, chirping, 

 darting and circling around each other, till the eye is no 

 longer able to follow them. The conqueror, however, gener- 

 ally returns to the place to reap the fruits of his victory. I 

 have seen him attack, and for a few moments teaze, the king 

 bird ; and have also seen him, in his turn, assaulted by a 

 humble bee, which he soon put to flight. He is one of those 

 few birds that are universally beloved ; and amidst the sweet 

 dewy serenity of a summer's morning, his appearance among 

 the arbours of honeysuckles and beds of flowers is truly 

 interesting. 



When the morning dawns, and the blest sun again 

 Lifts his red glories from the eastern main, 

 Then through our woodbines, wet with glittering dews, 

 The flower-fed humming bird his round pursues ; 

 Sips, with inserted tube, the honeyed blooms, 

 And chirps his gratitude as round he roams ; 

 While richest roses, though in crimson drest, 

 Shrink from the splendour of his gorgeous breast, j 

 What heavenly tints in mingling radiance fly ! 

 Each rapid movement gives a different dye ; 

 Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show, 

 Now sink to shade — now like a furnace glow ! 



The singularity of this little bird has induced many persons 

 to attempt to raise them from the nest, and accustom them to 

 the cage. Mr Coffer, of Fairfax county, Virginia, a gentleman 

 who has paid great attention to the manners and peculiarities 

 of our native birds, told me that he raised and kept two for 

 some months in a cage, supplying them with honey dissolved 

 in water, on which they readily fed. As the sweetness of the 

 liquid frequently brought small flies and gnats about the cage 

 and cup, the birds amused themselves by snapping at them 

 on wing, and swallowing them with eagerness, so that these 

 insects formed no inconsiderable part of their food. Mr 



