“And can you shoot such little things, sir?” I asked.
“Oh, yes, my boy; it is easy enough to shoot them,” he replied. “The difficulty is to bring them down without hurting their plumage, which is extremely delicate. The Indians shoot them with a blow-pipe and pellets and get very good specimens; but then one is not always with the Indians; and in those hot climates a bird must be skinned directly, so I generally trust to myself and get my own specimens.”
“With a blow-pipe, sir?”
“No, Nat; I have tried, but I never got to be very clever with it. One wants to begin young to manage a blow-pipe well. I always shot my humming-birds with a gun.”
“And shot, sir?”
“Not always, Nat. I have brought them down with the disturbance of the air or the wad of the gun. At other times I have used sand, or in places where I had no sand I have used water.”
“Water!” I exclaimed.
“Yes, and very good it is for the purpose, Nat. A little poured into the barrel of the gun after the powder is made safe with a couple of wads, is driven out in a fine cutting spray, which has secured me many a lovely specimen with its plumage unhurt.”
“But don’t it seem rather cruel to shoot such lovely creatures, Dick?” said Uncle Joe in an apologetic tone.
“Well, yes, it has struck me in that light before now,” said our visitor; “but as I am working entirely with scientific views, and for the spread of the knowledge of the beautiful occupants of this world, I do not see the harm. Besides, I never wantonly destroy life. And then, look here, my clear Joe, if you come to think out these things you will find that almost invariably the bird or animal you kill has passed its life in killing other things upon which it lives.”