NEST OF THE HUMMING-BIRD. 465 



their wings. When they hover they appear perfectly motionless, and 

 one might fancy them suspended by an invisible thread. 



Specially adapted for an aerial life, they are unceasingly in motion, 

 searching for their food in the calyx of flowers, from which they drink 

 the nectar with so much delicacy and address that the plant is 

 scarcely stirred. But the juice and honey of flowers, as some authors 

 affirm, are not their only food — such unsubstantial diet would be 

 insufficient to sustain the prodigious activity displayed almost every 

 moment of their existence. 



The tongue of the Humming-bird is a microscopic instrument of 

 marvellous arrangement. It is composed of two half-tubes placed 

 one against the other, capable of opening and shutting, like a 'pair of 

 pliers. Moreover, it is constantly moistened by a glutinous saliva, by 

 which it is enabled to seize and hold insects — an arrangement not 

 without analogy in the Woodpeckers. 



Proud of their gay colours, the Humming-birds take the greatest 

 care to protect their plumage. They frequently dress themselves by 

 passing their feathers through their bills. Their vivacity often 

 amounts to petulance, and they frequently manifest belligerent pro- 

 pensities not to be expected in such minute creatures. Birds much 

 larger than themselves they attack, threatening their eyes, harassing 

 and pursuing them without intermission, and always succeeding in 

 putting them to flight ; even with their own race they frequently 

 fight. If two males meet on the calyx of a flower, bristling with 

 anger, and uttering their cry, they rush on each other. After the 

 conflict is over the conqueror returns to reap the reward of his 

 valour. 



The nest of the Humming-bird (Fig. 186) is a masterpiece. It is 

 about the size of half an apricot. The materials are brought by the 

 male, and arranged by the female. These consist of lichens, and are 

 most artistically interwoven, the crevices being closed up with the 

 bird's saliva : the interior is padded with the silky fibres furnished by 

 various plants. This pretty cradle is suspended to a leaf, sometimes 

 to a small branch of rushes, or even to the straw roof of a hut. The 

 hen bird lays twice a year a pair of pure white eggs, about the size of 

 a pea. 



After an incubation of six days the young are hatched ; a week 

 later they are capable of flight. During the breeding season the 

 males are tender and demonstrative, and both parents show much 

 affection for their progeny. 



These little creatures are universally admired for their elegance 

 and beauty, and the names given them are generally descriptive of 



EE 



