It may not be out o f place now to give a few extracts from the works o f those authors who have written
on the Trochilidae in general or on some particular species. A perusal o f these will tend to confirm much
that I have said; and it is but fair that the writings of those who have wielded the pen in elucidation of
the history, habits, and manners o f these lovely birds should be duly recognized.
It is fortunate for the science o f Ornithology that so many persons gifted with the power o f expressing
their ideas in elegant and poetical language should have bestowed a large share o f their attention upon the
Humming-Bird. The writings o f Buffon, Wilson, Waterton, Audubon, Gosse, and others, treating exclusively
on natural history, are not, perhaps, so generally known as they ought to b e ; the extracts from these
authors will therefore, I doubt not, be found o f interest.
“ O f all animated beings,” says Bufibn, “ this is the most elegant in form and the most brilliant in colour.
The stones and metals polished by art are not comparable to this gem o f Nature: she has placed it in the
order o f Birds, but among the tiniest of the race—máxime miranda in minimis; she has loaded it with all the
gifts o f 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 is never
soiled with the dust o f earth; for, leading an aerial 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 o f the wind in pursuit o f an eternal
spring.”
“ Nature in every department o f her works,” says Wilson, “ seems to delight in variety ; and the present
subject is almost as singular for its minuteness, beauty, want o f song, and manner o f feeding, as the
preceding (the Mocking-Bird) is for unrivalled excellence o f notes and plainness o f plumage. This is one
o f the few birds that are universally beloved; and amidst the sweet dewy serenity o f a summer’s morning,
his appearance among the arbours o f honeysuckles and beds o f flowers is truly interesting.
“ When morning dawns, and the blest son 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 heavenly tints in mingling radiance fly!
Each rapid movement gives a different dye;
Like scales of burnished gold they dazzling show—
Now sink to shade, now like a furnace glow!”
“ Where is the person,” says Audubon, speaking o f the Trochilus Colubris, “ who, on seeing this lovely
little creature moving on humming winglets through the air, suspended as if by magic in it, flitting 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 observing this glittering fragment of
the rainbow, would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with reverence towards the Almighty Creator, the
wonders o f whose hand we at every step discover, and o f whose sublime conceptions we everywhere observe
the manifestations in his admirable system o f creation ? There breathes not such a person; so kindly have
we all been blessed with that intuitive and noble feeling—admiration.
“ I wish it were in my power to impart to you, kind reader, the pleasures which I have felt while watching
the movements and viewing the manifestations o f feelings displayed by a single pair of these most favourite
little creatures when engaged in the demonstration of their love for each other;—how the male swells his
plumage and throat, and, dancing on the wing, whirls around the delicate female; how quickly he dives
towards a flower and returns with a loaded bill, which he offers to her to whom alone he desires to be
united; how full o f ecstacy he seems to be when his caresses are kindly received ; how his little wings fan
her as they fan the flowers, and he transfers to her bill the insect and the honey which he has procured with
a view to please h e r ; how these attentions are received with apparent satisfaction ; how, soon after, the
blissful compact is sealed; how, then, the courage and care o f the male is redoubled; how he even dares
to give chase to the tyrant Flycatcher, hurries the Blue-Bird and the Martin to their boxes ; and how, on
sounding pinions, he joyously returns to the side o f his lovely mate. Reader, all these proofs of the
sincerity, fidelity, and courage with which the male assures his mate of the care he will take o f her while
sitting on her nest, may be seen, have been seen, but cannot be pourtrayed or described.
“ Could you cast a momentary glance on the nest o f the Humming-Bird and see, as I have seen, the
newly-hatched pair o f young, little larger than humble-bees, naked, blind, and so feeble as scarcely to be
able to raise their little bill to receive food from the parents ; and could you see those parents full of anxiety
and fear, passing and repassing within a few inches of your face, alighting on a twig not more than a yard
from your body, waiting the result of your unwelcome visit in a state of the utmost despair, you could not
fail to be impressed with the interest o f the scene. Then how pleasing it is, on your leaving the spot, to
see the returning hope o f the parents when, after examining the nest, they find their nestlings untouched!
These are the scenes best fitted to enable us to partake o f sorrow and joy, and to determine every one who
views them to make it his study to contribute to the happiness o f others, and to refrain from wantonly or
maliciously giving them pain.
“ A person standing in a garden by the side o f a common Althaea in bloom, will be surprised to hear the
humming o f their wings, and then see the birds themselves within a few feet o f him, as he will be astonished
at the rapidity with which the little creatures rise into the air, and are out o f sight and hearing the next
moment.
“ No bird seems to resist their attacks; but they are sometimes chased by the larger kinds o f humble-
bees, of which they seldom take the least notice, as their superiority of flight is suflicient to enable them to
leave those slow-moving insects far behind in the short space of a minute.
“ If comparison might enable you to form some tolerably accurate idea o f their peculiar mode of flight
and their appearance when on the wing, I should say that, were both objects o f the same colour, a large
Sphinx or moth when moving from one flower to another, and in a direct line, comes nearer the
Humming-Bird in aspect than any other object with which I am acquainted.”— Audubon, Ornithological
B iography, vol. i. p. 248, &c. For the other portions o f Wilson’s and Audubon’s very interesting observations,
I must refer my readers to my account of Trochilus Colubris.
“ Though least in size,” remarks Mr. Waterton, “ the glittering mantle of the Humming-Bird entitles it
to the first place in the list o f the birds of the New World. It may truly be called the Bird o f Paradise;
and had it existed in the Old World it would have claimed the title, instead of the bird which has now the
honour to bear it. See it darting through the air almost as quick as thought!—now it is within a yard of