THE HUMMING-BIRD. 



123 



is made use of by our own chaffinch, in finishing 

 the outside of its nest. 



The form of the body in every individual of the 

 humming-bird family, is precisely the same, differ- 

 ing only in size. 



At the knees, in many species, (indeed, in all, 

 in a greater or a less degree) is found a profusion 

 of delicately white feathery down. When this is 

 made to appear in preserved specimens, a solecism 

 is committed, in the art of what our learned 

 doctors now call "taxidermy." No part of this 

 feathery down ought to appear, whether the bird 

 be on the wing, or resting upon the twig of a tree. 

 In nature, it is entirely concealed by the adjacent 

 and surrounding feathers. 



The toes, and a very small portion of the foot, 

 will sometimes appear in view ; but rarely do you 

 see the feet when the bird sits on the branch or 

 twig ; and never, by any chance, can you see the 

 leg, no matter whether the bird be in motion or at 

 rest. 



When once the humming-bird has reached the 

 branch, there it remains, quiet and motionless, like 

 our domestic swallow ; never moving to or fro, 

 as other birds are wont to do. It adheres firmly to 

 the spot where it first alighted, until its wants 

 or its whims cause it to depart ; — when off it darts, 

 bright as a refulgent meteor through the sky. 



