THE HUMMING-BIRD. 



" MAXIMUS IN MINIMIS CERNITUR ESSE DEUS." 



I am not satisfied with the accounts which 

 naturalists have given us of this little animated 

 serial gem. Neither do the drawings of it please 

 me ; and as for the specimens themselves, in the 

 museums, both at home and on the continent, they 

 have, all of them, evidently been done by the hand 

 of a man, who knew not what he was doing. 



I wish to describe the figure and the habits of 

 the humming-bird family, so distinctly that when 

 young naturalists visit our museums, they may be 

 able to decide, without any hesitation, which is 

 a humming-bird, and which is not. For, this 

 family is unique in the world, and its figure cannot 

 be mistaken. All other known birds, saving the 

 swifts, may be seen at one time or other on the 

 ground. The humming-bird is never observed 

 there. 



The name " humming-bird " is aptly given ; and 

 for the sake of perspicuity, I shall retain it 



