nihM.MiN<;-i;ini>s. 



46$ 



are totally unlike those of other birds. So quickly do they 

 dart backwards and forwards, that the eye can hardly follow 

 them. Even when poising themselves before a flower, with 

 such inconceivable rapidity do their wings move, that even 

 then their bright colours are scarcely perceptible; and anon 

 they shoot off to sip the nectar 

 from another cup. Unlike the 

 systematic way in which bees 

 proceed, they seem to delight 

 in darting, now in one direc- 

 tion, now in the other ; now 

 for a moment they perch on 

 a spray, probing, as they sit, 

 the flowers nearest to them ; 

 then again they fly off, in their 

 eccentric course, to another 



spot. 



" Wherever a creeping vine 



opens its fragrant cluster, or 



wherever a flower blooms, 



may these little things be 



seen," writes Edwards, in his 



usual graphic way; "in the 



garden, or in the woods, over 



the water, everywhere, they 



are darting about, of all sizes, tufted coquette a»d nkst. 



from one that might easily be mistaken for a different variety 



of bird, to the tiny hermit — T. Rufigaster, whose body is 



not half the size of the bee's — buzzing about. Sometimes 



they are seen chasing each other, in sport, with a rapidity 



of flight and intricacy of path the eye is puzzled to follow. 



