But ne’er a flower, as I have heard,
Was ever made for me.
A passing zephyr paused, and stirred
Some moonlit drops of dew
To earth; and for the humming-bird
The honeysuckle grew.”
Of his manner of hanging before his tubular flowers Goodrich says: “He poises or suspends himself on wing for the space of two or three seconds so steadily that his wings become invisible and you can plainly discern the pupil of his eye, looking round with great quickness and circumspection. The glossy green of his back and the fire of his throat, dazzling in the sun, form altogether a most interesting appearance.”
This appearance Alexander Wilson pictures thus:
“While richest roses though in crimson drest,
Spring from the splendors of his gorgeous breast.