VERVAIN HUMMING-BIRD.— Mellisuga minima. 
The beautiful little Vervain Humming-bird is one of the minutest examples- 
of feathered life at present known to zoologists, In total length this bird 
does not measure three inches ; while, as the tail occupies nearly an inch and 
the head half an inch, the actual length of the body will be seen to be not quite 
an inch and a half. It is a native of Jamaica, and has been admirably described by 
Mr. Gosse, while treating of the birds which inhabit that island. 
The name of Vervain Humming-bird has been given to this tiny creature,, 
because it is in the habit of feeding on the blossoms of the West Indian Vervain, 
This little bird has a pleasant but not powerful voice, of which Mr. Bullock 
writes as follows : — 
“ He had taken his station on the twig of a tamarind-tree which was close to 
the barn and overspread part of the yard ; there, perfectly indifferent to the 
number of persons constantly passing within a few yards, he spent most of the 
day. There were few blossoms on the tree, and it was not the breeding season, 
yet he most pertinaciously kept absolute possession of his domain ; for the 
moment any other bird, though ten times as large as himself, approached near 
his tree, he attacked it most furiously and drove it off, always returning to the 
same twig he had before occupied, and which he had worn quite bare for three 
or four inches by constantly feeding on it. I often approached within a few feet 
with pleasure, observing his tiny operations of cleaning and pluming, and 
listening to his weak, simple, and oft-repeated note. I could easily have caught 
him, but was unwilling to destroy so interesting a little visitant, who had afforded 
me so much pleasure. 
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