vivid than the red which fome fpecies exhibit, nor gold 

 lb brilliant as the glance of their varying plumage : it 

 is therefore entirely beyond the power of art to repre - 

 fent their colours with fidelity : all that can be done is 

 to give a general idea of the inimitable beauties which 

 Nature exhibits to us in thefe birds. 



Before the difcovery of the Weftern Hcmifphere, 

 the golden-crefted wren was believed to be the fmalleft 

 of birds; but the Naturalifts of Europe were aftonifhed 

 on finding that the new world afforded birds inferior 

 in fize to many of the European infe&s ; and that one 

 ipecies in particular was fcarce larger than a common 

 beetle. As that very minute fpecies however is not fo 

 remarkable for the beauty of its color as moll others of 

 the genus, I have rather chofen to exhibit one which 

 difplays a more elegant affemblage of colors, and at the 

 fame time may be numbered amongft the fmalleft 

 of the genus. 



This beautiful bird is a native of many parts of 

 America, and is very frequently feen in the provinces 

 of North and South Carolina. The bill in this fpecies 

 is black ; the upper parts of the bird are of a rich vari- 

 able golden-green ; the chin and throat of the mod 

 glowing fcarlet, changing according to the light into 

 poliihed gold ; the breaft and belly are white, and the 

 long feathers of the wings are of a purplilh brown. 

 The female differs in having the whole under furface 

 white, without any of the ruby-red, which fo richly 

 adorns the male. This diminutive bird flies with a 

 rapidity altogether aftoniming. It feeds in the manner 

 of a moth on the wing, by inferring its long tubular 



tongue 



