HUMMING-BIRDS.
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them attain the size of pigeons ; but although the dreaded " vampire " may be found among the number, we never hear of any creature falling a prey to its thirst for blood. The principal aquatic birds are, boobies, or gannets, man-ofwar birds, coots, gorlings, (a kind of heron,) gulls. The other birds are, chicken-hawks, (or killa-a-killa, as the negroes call them,) buzzards, turtle-doves, ground-doves, wild pigeons, quails, a brown bird, with a most melodious note,—" the nightingale of a tropic noon," as Coleridge poetically calls it ; sparrows, finches, yellowbreasts, blackbirds, (but not like those sweet songsters of old England's woods,) several other birds, with whose names I am unacquainted, and lastly, the pigmy humming-bird. Speaking of these beautiful little creatures, a modern author remarks : " The consummate green of the emerald, the rich purple of the amethyst, and the vivid flame of the ruby, all happily blended and enveloped beneath a transparent veil of wavy gold, are distinguished in every species, but differently arranged and proportioned in each." Pretty as this description is, it is not quite applicable to the humming-birds of Antigua; for although the " emerald" may be found, as well as the purple and gold, in some degree, " the vivid flame of the ruby" will be sought for in vain. Still it is a lovely little creature, with its long slender bill, its graceful little head, its sparkling black eye, and its fairy-like flittings among the fragrant blossoms of its sunny home. It has been asserted that the humming-bird is one of the shyest among the feathered tribe ; but to express my own opinion, I think it has as good a stock of assurance as is possible to conceive for such a minute creature ; while its passions are very strong, and it will attack any bird who comes within its range. An anecdote was related to me during my stay in this island, which proves how strong maternal love reigns in the breast of a humming-bird. In order to increase a cabinet of birds, a negro was dispatched in quest of these little creatures, with orders to capture all he could ; and in the course of his perambulations, he alighted upon one which