180 
HUMMING BIRD. 
dazzling in the sun, form altogether a most interesting appear- 
ance. The position into which his body is usually thrown 
while in the act of thrusting his slender tubular tongue into 
the flower, to extract its sweets, is exhibited in the figure on 
the plate. When he alights, which is frequently, he always 
prefers the small dead twigs of a tree or bush, where he 
dresses and arranges his plumage with great dexterity. His 
only note is a single chirp, not louder than that of a small 
cricket or grasshopper, generally uttered while passing from 
flower to flower, or when engaged in fight with his fellows ; 
for, when two males meet at the same bush, or flower, a battle 
instantly takes place ; and the combatants ascend in the air, 
chirping, darting and circling around each other, till the eye 
is no longer able to follow them. The conqueror, however, 
generally returns to the place to reap the fruits of his victory. 
I have seen him attack, and for a few moments teaze the King 
Bird ; and have also seen him, in his turn, assaulted by a 
humble-bee, which he soon put to flight. He is one of those 
few birds that are universally beloved ; and amidst the sweet 
dewy serenity of a summer’s morning, his appearance among 
the arbours of honeysuckles, and beds of flowers, is truly 
interesting. 
When the morning dawns, and the blest sun again 
Lifts his red glories from the eastern main, 
Then through our woodbines, wet with glittering dews, 
The flower-fed Humming Bird his round pursues ; 
Sips, with inserted tube, the honey’d blooms, 
And chirps his gratitude as round he roams ; 
While richest roses, though in crimson drest, 
Shrink from the splendour of his gorgeous breast. 
What heavenly tints in mingling radiance fly ! 
Each rapid movement gives a different dye ; 
Like scales of burnish’d gold they dazzling shew, 
Now sink to shade — now like a furnace glow ! 
The singularity of this little bird has induced many persons 
to attempt to raise them from the nest, and accustom them to 
the cage. Mr Coffer, of Fairfax county, Virginia, a gentleman 
