GLASS II. AYES: ORDER 2. PASSERES. 
105 
THK TOPAZ HUMMING-BIRD. 
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 small cricket or grasshopper, generally uttered 
Avhile passing from flower to flower, or when engaged in fight with his fellows ; for, when two 
males meet at the same bush or flower, a battle instantly takes place, and the combatants ascend 
in the air, chirping, darting, and circling around «ach other, till the eye is no longer able to fol- 
low them. The conqueror, however, generally returns to the place to reap the fruits of his vic- 
tory. I have seen him attack, and for a few moments tease the king-bird, and have also seen 
him, in his turn, assaulted by a humble-bee, which he soon put to flight. 
" The humming-bird is one of those few birds that are universally beloved ; and amid the sweet, 
dewy serenity of a summer's morning, his appearance among the arbors of honeysuckles and 
beds of flowers is truly interesting — 
" When the morning dawns, and the blest sun again 
Lifts his red glories from the eastern main, 
Then through our woodbines, wet with glittering dews, 
The flower-fed humming-bird his round pursues ; 
Sips, with inserted tube, the honey'd blooms, 
And chirps his gratitude as round he roams ; 
While richest roses, though in crimson drest, 
Shrink from the splendor of his gorgeous breast. 
What heavenly tints in mingling radiance fly ! 
Each rapid movement gives a different dye ; 
Like scales of burnish'd gold they dazzling show, 
Now sink to shade — now like a furnace glow." 
Vol. II.— 14 
