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114 WANDERINGS IN 



Second of paradise ; and had it existed in the old world, it 



Journey. 



would have claimed the title instead of the bird which 



has now the honour to bear it : — see it darting through 

 the air almost as quick as thought ! — now it is within 

 a yard of your face !— in an instant gone !— now it 

 flutters from flower to flower to sip the silver dew— it is 

 now a ruby — now a topaz — now an emerald — now all 

 burnished gold I It would be arrogant to pretend 

 to describe this winged gem of nature after 

 Buffbn's elegant description of it. 



Haunts of Cayenne and Demerara produce the same humming- 



the Hum- 

 ming-birds, birds. Perhaps you would wish to know something of 



their haunts. Chiefly "in the months of July and August 

 the tree called Bois Immortel, very common in Demerara, 

 bears abundance of red blossom, which stays on the tree 

 for some Aveeks ; then it is that most of the different 

 species of humming-birds are very plentiful. The wild 

 red sage is also their favourite shrub, and they buzz like 

 bees round the blossom of the Wallaba tree. Indeed, 

 there is scarce a flower in the interior, or on the sea- 

 coast, but what receives frequent visits from one or other 

 of the species. 



On entering the forests, on the rising land in the 

 interior, the blue and green, the smallest brown, no bigger 

 than the humble bee, with two long feathers in the tail, 

 and the little forked-tail purple-throated humming-birds, 

 glitter before you hi ever-changing attitudes. One 



