184 
HUMMING BIRD. 
the Humming Bird of all our other flowers. In some places* 
where these plants abound, you may see, at one time, ten or 
twelve Humming Birds darting about, and fighting with and 
pursuing each other. About the 20th of September they 
generally retire to the south. I have, indeed, sometimes seen 
a solitary individual on the 28th and 30th of that month, and 
sometimes even in October ; but these cases are rare. About 
the beginning of November, they pass the southern boundary 
of the United States into Florida. 
The Humming Bird is three inches and a half in length, 
and four and a quarter in extent ; the whole back, upper part 
of the neck, sides under the wings, tail-coverts, and two 
middle feathers of the tail, are of a rich golden green ; the 
tail is forked, and, as well as the wings, of a deep brownish 
purple : the bill and eyes are black ; the legs and feet, both 
of which are extremely small, are also black ; the bill is 
straight, very slender, a little inflated at the tip, and very 
incompetent to the exploit of penetrating the tough sinewy 
side of a Crow, and precipitating it from the clouds to the 
earth, as Charlevoix would persuade his readers to believe.* 
The nostrils are two small oblong slits, situated at the base of 
the upper mandible, scarcely perceivable when the bird is 
dead, though very distinguishable and prominent when living; 
the sides of the belly, and belly itself, dusky white, mixed 
with green ; but what constitutes the chief ornament of this 
little bird, is the splendour of the feathers of his throat, which, 
when placed in a proper position, glow with all the brilliancy 
of the ruby. These feathers are of singular strength and 
texture, lying close together like scales, and vary, when 
moved before the eye, from a deep black to a fiery crimson 
and burning orange. The female is destitute of this orna- 
ment ; but differs little in other appearance from the male ; 
her tail is tipt with white, and the whole lower parts are of 
the same tint. The young birds of the first season, both male 
Histoire de la Nouvelle France, iii. p. 185. 
