A gentleman who resided some time on one of the West India Islands
informs us that while he was once travelling along the bed of a deep
ravine overhung with thick vines, he was actually startled by the
immense numbers of humming birds which hovered over and about him.
They hovered about him as if actuated by curiosity alone. They were of
various kinds and colors, some of them being nearly as large as
sparrows, while others were but little larger than a bee. Some were of
a dingy green, or a light brown, while others seemed gaudily arrayed
in plumage as brilliant and variegated as the rainbow. They would
approach within arms length of his face, and pausing in their flight,
with their little wings, in rapid motion, would stare at him as if
they wondered what possible business he could have in those remote
wilds; but they exhibited no symptoms of terror, not having been
taught by experience to fear the cruelty of man.
* * * * *
THE NEW YORK
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN:
_Published Weekly at_ 128 _Fulton Street_., (_Sun Building_,) _New York_.