112 
THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY, 
fond, would be to repeat the names of half our American 
Flora. From the blossoms of the towering poplar, or tu- 
lip tree, through a thousand intermediate flowers, to those 
of the humble larkspur, he ranges at will, and almost inces- 
santly. Every period of the season produces a fresh mul- 
titude of new favourites. Towards the month of Septem- 
ber there is a yellow flower which grows in great luxuri- 
ance along the sides of creeks and rivers, and in low moist 
situations: it grows to the height of two or three feet, apd 
the flower which is about the size of a thimble, hangs in 
the shape of a cap of liberty, above a luxuriant growth of 
green leaves. It is the Balsamina noli me tangere of 
botanists, and is the greatest favourite with the Humming- 
bird of all our other flowers. In some places where these 
plants abound, you may see at one time ten or twelve Hum- 
ming-birds darting about, and fighting with and pursuing 
each other. About the twentieth of September they gene- 
rally retire to the south. I have, indeed, sometimes seen 
a solitary individual on the twenty-eighth and thirtieth of 
that month, and sometimes even in October; but these 
cases are rare. About the beginning of November, they 
pass the southern boundary of the United States into Flo- 
rida. 
The Humming-bird is three inches and a half in length, 
and four and a quarter in extent; the whole back, upper 
part of the neck, sides under the wings, tail coverts, and 
two middle feathers of the tail, are of a rich golden green; 
the tail is forked, and, as well as the wings, of a deep 
brownish purple; the bill and eyes are black; the legs and 
feet, both of which are extremely small, are also black; the 
bill is straight, very slender, a little inflated at the tip, and 
very incompetent to the exploit of penetrating the tough 
sinewy side of a crow, and precipitating it from the clouds 
to the earth, as Charlevoix would persuade his readers to 
believe. The nostrils are two small oblong slits, situated 
at the base of the upper mandible, scarcely perceivable 
when the bird is dead, though very distinguishable and 
prominent when living; the sides of the belly and belly 
itself, dusky white, mixed with green; but what consti- 
tutes the chief ornament of this little bird, is the splendour 
of the feathers of his throat, which, when placed in a pro- 
per position, glow with all the brilliancy of the ruby. 
These feathers are of singular strength and texture, lying 
close together like scales, and vary when moved before 
the eye from a deep black to a fiery crimson and burning 
orange. The female is destitute of this ornament; but 
differs little in other appearances from the male; her tail is 
tipt with white, and the whole lower parts are of the same 
tint. The young birds of the first season, both male and 
female, have the tail tipt with white, and the whole lower 
parts nearly white; in the month of September the,orna- 
mental feathers on the throat of the young males begin to 
appear. 
On dissection the heart was found to be remarkably 
large, nearly as big as the cranium, and the stomach, though 
distended with food, uncommonly small, not exceeding the 
globe of the eye, and scarcely more than one-sixth part 
as large as the heart; the fibres of the last were also ex- 
ceedingly strong. The bi’ain was in large quantity, and 
very thin; the tongue, from the tip to an extent equal with 
the length of the bill, was perforated, forming two closely 
attached parallel and cylindrical tubes; the other extremi- 
ties of the tongue corresponded exactly to those of the 
Woodpecker, passing up the hind head and reaching 
to the base of the upper mandible. These observations 
were verified in five different subjects, all of whose sto- 
machs contained fragments of insects, and some of them 
whole ones. — Wilson. 
ANGLING IN SURINAM. 
The negroes of Surinam take their fish by implements 
which may be denominated the spring hook and the spring 
basket; the first of which consists of a strong elastic rod 
or pole stuck in the ground under water, and to the other 
end of which are attached two lines of unequal lengths, 
the shorter having fastened to it a small stick ten inches 
long, and the other the same, but fixed lower; while at 
the extremity of this line is hooked a small fish, by the 
fins, in such a manner, however, as to be able to swim to 
and fro, and serve as a bait for the larger species. Two 
long sticks being next placed in the ground, so as to 
appear above water, a third stick is laid across, forming 
them into the appearance of a gallows; above this gallows 
is bent and fixed the elastic rod or pole, by means of the 
double line and the sticks fixed thereon, as mentioned 
above, but in such a manner that, at the least pull at the 
bait, the apparatus gives way, the elastic rod instantly as- 
sumes an upright position, and the fish that occasioned the 
spring, by taking the bait, is immediately suspended above 
water. The spring-basket is upon a similar construction. 
The basket is made of warimbo-reeds in the form of a sugar- 
loaf, in the small end of which the elastic rod is fastened, 
while at the other end is an open trap-door, the whole 
being supported in a proper position by a forked stick. 
No sooner has a large fish entered the basket and taken 
the bait, than the elastic rod, as in the former instance, 
erects itself with a spring, the trap-door closes, and the 
game is thus secured. In this mode of angling there is, 
