THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
243 
and vivacity. They are certainly a charming 
sight when seen flashing through the air, now 
poised on viewless wings as they dip their 
long bills into some honey-laden flower, and 
now shooting with the hum of swift wings to 
another. Occasionally, the humming-bird will 
alight for a moment, but always on some dry, 
leafless twig, and with a peculiar twinkling of 
the wings and a faint chippering sound, the 
only music which it ever seems to make. 
Delightful little rovers among summer bloom 
and sweetness, their absence would cause deep 
regret to every lover of the beautiful. 
“ California and the South are favored with 
a large variety of these tiny little air-gems, 
having half a dozen species or more; but as 
they do not embody any of the higher points 
of beauty, they can be passed without more 
special mention. 
“ Near the equator we reach the paradise of 
the humming-birds, and there one may linger 
and feast his eyes with the flash of their wings 
and the sparkle of their living jewelry. 
“The humming-bird family is so numerous 
that no complete living collection has ever 
been brought under inspection, and thus they 
