Lively and full of energy, these winged gems are almost incessantly in the air, darting from one object to another, and displaying their gorgeous hues in the sunbeams. When performing a lengthened flight, as during migration, they pass through the air in long undulations, raising themselves to a considerable height and then falling in a curve. When feeding on a flower, they keep themselves poised in one position, as steadily as if suspended on a bough—making a humming noise by the rapid motion of their wings.
In disposition, these creatures are intrepid, but, like some other little people, they are very quarrelsome. In defending their nests, they attack birds five times their size, and drive them off with ease. When angry, their motions are very violent and their flight as swift as an arrow. Often the eye is incapable of following them, and their shrill, piercing shriek alone announces their presence.
Among the most dazzling of this brilliant tribe is the bar-tailed humming-bird of Brazil. The tail is forked to the base, and consists of five feathers, graduated one above another at almost equal distances. Their color is of the richest flame, or orange red, with a dazzling metallic burnish. The upper part of the body of the bird is golden green; the rump is red, and the under surface of emerald green.
Stokes’ Humming-Bird.
Stokes’ humming-bird may perhaps be cited as a rival of this little gem of beauty. The head and whole of the back is covered with scale-shaped feathers, those on the head being brilliant blue and changing to violet, those on the back being bright emerald green. The cheeks are purplish green, with small pink spots. Was there ever any lass of a fancy ball more gaily decked?
Such are a few of the species of this famous race. There are more than a hundred kinds, all noted for their littleness and their surpassing beauty. What a beautiful conception in the Author of nature were these little fairies! It is as if the flowers had taken wings, and life, and intelligence, and shared in the sports of animal life. And if we regard their beauty—the delicacy of their feathers—their energy and power compared with their size—if we consider the ingenious mechanism of their structure—can we sufficiently admire the Architect who made them and bade them go forth to add life, and beauty, and brilliancy to the landscape, while sharing themselves in the joys of existence?
Madagascar.
On the eastern coast of Africa is one of the largest islands in the world, called Madagascar. It is 900 miles long, and contains about twice as much land as England, Wales, and Scotland, or three times as much as New England. It is some five or six thousand miles southeast of the United States, and 1800 miles northeast of the Cape of Good Hope.