186 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
like bird leads to its destruction, which is still prac- 
tised at the present day, as well as that of other 
bright-plumaged birds, for the adornment of ladies’ 
hats, to such a degree that it is feared these beautiful 
w T inged-flowers will soon be seen no more. 
“ Very beautiful collections of stuffed humming- 
birds have been made, embracing all the varieties, 
and seemingly as natural as in life. But when we 
know that ‘ each feather-fibre is charged with several 
tints according to the direction of the light, and thus 
when the bird is living each respiration causes every 
imaginable color to flash from every feather and 
fibre until the little bird appears to be bathed in 
resplendent living light/ we feel that the bloom of 
this beauty has departed with the breath that gave 
it life. 
“ Now I will read you a little poem on the hum- 
ming-bird, which you may commit to memory some 
day and repeat to me : 
‘ THE HUMMING-BIRD. 
‘The humming-bird, the humming-bird, 
So fairy-like and bright; 
It lives among the sunny flowers, 
A creature of delight. 
‘ In the radiant islands of the East, 
Where fragrant spices grow, 
