78 
HUMMING-BIRD, 
moisture. Within this are thick matted layers of the fine wings 
of certain flying seeds, closely laid together; and, lastly, the 
downy substance from the great mullein, and from the stalks of 
the common fern, lines the whole. The base of the nest is con- 
tinued round the stem of the branch, to which it closely adheres; 
and, when viewed from below, appears a mere mossy knot or 
accidental protuberance. The eggs are two, pure white, and of 
equal thickness at both ends. The nest and eggs in the plate 
were copied with great precision, and by actual measurement, 
from one just taken in from the woods. On a person’s approach- 
ing their nest, the little proprietors dart around with a humming 
sound, passing frequently within a few inches of one’s head; 
and should the young be newly hatched, the female will resume 
her place on the nest even while you stand within a yard or two 
of the spot. The precise period of incubation I am unable to 
give; but the young are in the habit, a short time before they 
leave the nest, of thrusting their bills into the mouths of their 
parents, and sucking what they have brought them. I never 
could perceive that they carried them any animal food; though, 
from circumstances that will presently be mentioned, I think it 
highly probable they do. As I have found their nests with eggs 
so late as the twelfth of July, I do not doubt but that they fre- 
quently, and perhaps usually, raise two brood in the same season. 
The humming-bird is extremely fond of tubular flowers, and 
I have often stopt, with pleasure, to observe his manoeuvres 
among the blossoms of the trumpet flower. When arrived be- 
fore a thicket of these that are full blown, he poises, or suspends 
himself on wing, for the space of two or three seconds, so steadily, 
that his wings become invisible, or only like a mist; and you 
can plainly distinguish the pupil of his eye looking round with 
great quickness and circumspection ; the glossy golden green of 
his back, and the fire of his throat, dazzling in the sun, form al- 
together a most interesting appearance. The position into which 
his body is usually thrown while in the act of thrusting his slen- 
der tubular tongue into the flower, to extract its sweets, is ex- 
hibited in the figure on the plate. When he alights, which is 
