Though no longer young, nor by any means small, I read Young People with as much interest as my children, and think I can place no better book in their hands.
I read with much interest Arthur Lindsley's article on humming-birds, and must differ with him about their food. I have caught them—the ruby-throat and another, which I will describe hereafter—several times, and they never fail to get over their fright in a few minutes, and drink eagerly of sugar and water offered to them in a spoon. I have held them in my open hand, and had them to chirp and flutter their wings as they sipped from the spoon, just as they do when hovering over a flower. We have a large mimosa-tree which when in bloom is the resort of hundreds of "flying sunbeams," as we call them. The kind referred to above is a bird in every particular except the bill, which is that of a butterfly, long and tightly curled.
V. S. Parker.
Wappinger's Falls, New York.
I am a little boy eight years old the 2d of October. I have three brothers—Johnnie, Watson, and Bertie. Johnnie and I go to school. I am learning to read and write. I tried to write this letter, but I thought you could not read it, so I got papa to write it for me. I like papa to read those letters that are in Young People for me, and some of the stories. I have no pets, but I have a cunning little brother Bertie, four months old; Johnnie is five years and Watson three years. We had lots of rain a week ago. It rained two days, and it flooded our basement, and the creek was very full.
Henry C.
Brooklyn, New York.
I am a little boy nine years old. I have two pet rabbits, and their names are Snowflake and Killy, and they both are as white as snow. I feed them on cabbage, carrots, plantain, corn bread, grass, clover, and apples. I also have two white mice; I feed them on bread and milk. The other day I was cleaning their cage, and one of them escaped, but I soon caught him again.
Harry L. W.