nUMMIXa BIKDS. 
3 
lustres of tlie topaz, of emeralds, and of rubies ; and, in 
a poetical strain, it has been observed that “ the hue 
of roses steeped in liquid fire will scarce depict their 
changing brilliance.” They are as swift on the wing as 
the barbed javelin ; fierce as tigers when opposed, and 
always ready to do battle with any intruder on their 
domains, and combat to the death. Displaying the 
courage and intrepidity of a knight-errant, with breast- 
plate, plume, and coat of mail, the little brilliant levels 
his pointed bill, and rushes on his antagonist. Stimu- 
lated to the highest degree by the excitement, the two 
combatants rise into the air, chirping, darting, and 
circling round each other, until the eye is no .longer 
able to follow them ; at length, one of them falls to 
the ground, exhausted, wounded, or dead. 
In this country we can only be acquainted with a 
portion of their attractions. AVe are amazed at the 
brilliancy and variety of their colours, and astonished 
at the small dimensions of some of the species ; but to 
see them in their native retreats, amidst the beautiful 
flowers which festoon the ever-verdant forests of 
tropical America, darting about in all directions, like 
meteors of the most enchanting colours, is a gratifica- 
tion which few Europeans are able to enjoy. The 
Indians are not insensible to their beauty, for females 
wear them as ear-drops, and as other adornments to 
their persons. 
AVe now proceed to inquire into the modification of 
structure required by these active little labourers ; but 
we may remark, in the first place, that they were sup- 
posed, until lately, to live altogether on vegetal^le 
food ; that they subsisted solely upon the honey which 
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