18 
THE IIUMMING-BIRD. 
within the flower to sleep. Then, out darts 
his long delicate tongue, and takes them up, 
one after the other, and finishes, as the sun- 
bird did, by sipping a little honey. 
The humming-bird is as fond of insects as 
he is of honey, and besides catching them on 
the wing, he has been seen to steal them out 
of the spiders' webs. This is rather dangerous 
work, for if his wings were to be entangled 
he would be taken prisoner, and then woe be- 
tide him ! He has a wholesome dread of the 
great spider I have just told you about, and if 
he only shows himself, off the humming-bird 
darts like a sunbeam ; for the spider is as- 
large as he is, and a great deal fiercer. But 
he can rob the smaller spiders with less dan- 
ger, and picks out the insects from their webs, 
snatching them away in a hurrj^, and then 
darting off*, to come back again the next 
minute, and so on, until the poor spider is 
left with an empty larder. 
All the strength of the humming-bird lies 
in his wings, that are large in proportion to 
his tiny body. They are a little like those 
of the swift in shape, and everybody knows 
how rapidly the swift can dart about, and 
