24 
THE HUMMING-BIRD. 
throw a stone at it, and when they are obliged 
to cut it down they pour some wine at its 
root, in order to prevent its being angry, and 
doing them any harm. It is one of the few 
trees that shed their leaves ; for a tropical 
forest is always green and full of foliage, as 
the new leaves come out before the old ones 
di'op. 
But evety other year the silk-cotton tree 
stands quite bare, and without a single leaf ; 
and then its trunk and great branches are 
dotted all over with seed-pods. As soon as 
the pods are ripe they burst, and out comes a 
quantity of Vfine silky down, that is carried 
away by the wind. It cannot be used as 
cotton, for it will not twist or hold together, 
and all that can be done with it is to stuff 
pillows and mattresses. But, as it floats 
hither and thither, it is a rich harvest for 
the little humming-birds. Hundreds of them 
may be seen darting about, pursuing the 
tufts of down, and carrying them away in 
their bills. When the nest is made, the mother 
bird lays two eggs in it, no bigger than peas, 
and of a snow white colour, speckled here and 
there with yellow. 
