HUMMING BIRD. 
459 
entrap one, which he had watched while it entered 
the bell of a convolvulus, and buried itself in the 
flower for the sake of its sweet. He ran directly 
to the spot, and having closed the corolla, he cut it 
from the stalk, and carried off the prisoner : but 
all his endeavours were ineffectual to prevail on it 
to eat, and it died in a few days. General Davies 
was more successful; since, from the information he 
gave Dr. Latham, we find that he kept these birds 
alive for four months by the following method : 
He made an exact representation of some of the 
tubular flowers, with paper fastened round a tobac- 
co-pipe, and painted them of a proper colour ; these 
were placed in the order of nature, in the cage in 
which the little creatures were confined ; the bot- 
toms of the tubes were filled with a mixture of 
brown sugar and water as often as emptied, and he 
had the pleasure of seeing them perform every ac- 
tion ; for they soon grew familiar, and took their 
nourishment in the same manner as when ranging 
at large, though close under the eye. 
The Indians of Mexico and Peru were skilled 
in making pictures of the feathers of these birds, 
with which they decorated their idols and their 
temples, before the cruel Spaniards depressed their 
spirit, and robbed them of their wealth. 
