INTRODUCTION.

XXV1l

i ‘ TS have V ritten
i | a few extracts ir works of those authors V ho c V
It may not be out of place now to give a few extracts from the V

rus will tend to confirm much
on the eed ew in general or on some oe ape A per usal of these

C c c 3 c S yen Il idati 10n O

: birds s 2 recognized.
the history, habits, and manners of these lovely birds should be day recog

It is fortunate for the science of Ornithology that so many persons gifted with we pone oF expressing
their ideas in elegant and poetical language should have bestowed a large share of their atouhen HM a"
Humming-Bird. The writings of Buffon, Wilson, Waterton, Audubon, Gosse, and others, treating exclu-
sively on natural history, are not, perhaps, so generally known as they ought to be; the extracts from these

authors will therefore, I doubt not, be found of interest.

«Of all animated beings,” says Buffon, “this is the most elegant in form and the most brilliant a eile
The stones and metals polished by art are not comparable to this gem of Nature: she has Raced it in the
order of Birds, but among the tiniest of the race—mavxime miranda in minimis ; she has loaded it with all the
gifts of which she has only given other birds a share. Agility, rapidity, nimbleness, grace, and rich attire,
all belong to this little favourite. The emerald, the ruby, and the topaz, glitter in its garb, which i never
soiled with the dust of earth; for, leading an aérial life, it rarely touches the turf even for an instant.
Always in the air, flying from flower to flower, it shares their freshness and their splendour, lives on their
nectar, and only inhabits those climates in which they are unceasingly renewed. The Humming-Bird seems
to follow the sun, to advance, to retire with him, and to fly on the wings of the wind in pursuit of an eternal

spring.”

‘‘ Nature in every department of her works,” says Wilson, ‘‘ seems to delight in variety ; and the present
subject is almost as singular for its minuteness, beauty, want of song, and manner of feeding, as the
preceding (the Mocking-Bird) is for unrivalled excellence of notes and plainness of plumage. This is one
of the 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 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 honied 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 heave only tints in mingling radiance fly !

Kach rapid movement gives a different dye ;

Like scales of burnished 1 gold they dazzling show—

Now sink to shade, now like a furnace glow!”

“Where is the person,” s says Audubon, speaking of the Zrochilus Colubris, «

who, on seeing this lovely
little creature moving on humming winglets through the

air, Suspended as if by Magic in it, flitting

g from
one flower to another with motions as graceful as they are light and airy
¢ ’

pursuing its course and yielding

new delights wherever it is seen—where is the person, I ask, who, on obse

rving this glittering fragment of
nce towards the Almighty Creator, the

p discover, and of whose sublime
the manifestations in his admirable syste

the rainbow, would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with revere
wonders of whose hand we at every ste
ot" conceptions we everywhere observe

m of creation? There breathe

: aie S not such a person; so kindly have
we all been blessed with that intuitive and noble feeling—admiration :

 

  
    
  
  
   
  
  
  
 
   
  
  
 
  
 
   
 
   
  
 
 
 
 
    
 
    
  
  
   
    
      

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