Oliver Cummings Farrington.

THE BIRTH OF THE HUMMINGBIRD.

It was born in a valley of violets

Where bird and flower for its favor vied,

Its father a poppy gone stark mad,

Its mother a reckless honey bee,

(True child of such startling pedigree)

Its cradle a sunbeam glorified.

It was bathed in a dewdrop morn by morn

And when the time for the christening came,