THE LANGUAGE OF BIRDS. 265 
their bills into the mouths of their parents, and suck- 
ing what they have brought them. I never could 
perceive that they carried them any animal food ; 
though from circumstances that will presently be 
mentioned, I think it highly probable they do. As 
I have found their nests with eggs so late as the 12th 
of July, I do not doubt but that they frequently, and 
perhaps usually, raise two broods in the same season. 
The humming-bird is extremely fond of tubular 
flowers, and I have often stopped, with pleasure, to 
observe his manoeuvres among the blossoms of the 
trumpet-flower ; when arrived before a thicket of these 
that are full blown, he poises, or suspends himself 
on wing, for the space of two or three seconds, so 
steadily, that his wings become invisible, or only 
like a mist; and you can plainly distinguish the 
pupil of his eye looking round with great quickness 
and circumspection ; the glossy golden green of his 
back, and the fire of his throat, dazzling in the sun, 
form altogether a most interesting appearance. When 
he alights, which is frequently, he always prefers the 
small dead twigs of a tree, or bush, where he dresses 
and arranges his plumage with great dexterity. His 
only note is a single chirp, not louder than that of a 
A A 
