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The Humming Bird 
I T IS not that he hums with his throat 
but with his wings that he is called a 
“humming” bird. He is the very 
smallest bird found in America, and is the 
only kind of humming bird found anywhere 
but in hot countries. Without his feathers 
his body is about as big as a bee. His long 
slender bill is for sucking honey out of the 
cups of flowers. His motion is very rapid. 
He does not usually alight while feeding, but keeps up the whirr of his 
wings all the time. He is green above, with breast and throat a brilliant red. 
I 
The Mocking Bird 
F YOU could only hear the song he is 
singing, you would think that nothing 
finer could ever come from a bird 
throat, that is, if it is his own natural song. 
He may be just imitating some of the bird 
notes he hears about him, or other sounds 
of the woods and swamps. His imitations 
are so good they deceive everybody but 
himself. He is about the size of the robin, 
and is gray above, with brown wings and tail tipped with white. His 
throat is white and his breast light gray. Only the thrush has so sweet a song. 
The Parrot 
H EAR him chattering away—this long-tailed 
parrot, with the queer curved beak, the 
bright-colored plumage, and the voice that 
talks like a human being! Yet if you listen, you 
will soon find that he has not the brain of a human 
being, for he does not know the words he says, 
but just imitates the sounds he hears. Parrots live 
in the dense forests of tropical lands, in large 
flocks, and are active from morning till night. 
They are noisy and quarrelsome. Their feathers 
are simpler but almost as brilliant as those of the 
bird of Paradise. They eat soft, pulpy fruits, skill¬ 
fully holding them with one claw. 
