THE YOUTH’S CABINET.

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Humming-Birds.

   
 
 
 

. «f, bo" « gu HARMING little
awe eT. creatures! how
TAA et I do love to

Sy » watch them as they
7, come close to my win-

dow, and flutter around
my morning glories
and cypress vines. I once caught a hum-
ming-bird. It was when I was quite a
little boy. He had flown into the house,
through mistake, I doubt not—and was
trying to make his escape. I captured
him, as I used sometimes to catch butter-
flies, with my hat. O, how frightened
the poor fellow was, and how hard he
tried to get away! His little heart throb-
bed so rapidly, that I could not bear to
hold him Jong in my hand. I let him
go as soon as I had examined the beautiful

dress he had on; and he was glad enough

to get away, I assure you.

What boy or girl could wish to shut

up a humming-bird in a cage? How
much happier the little thing must be,
flitting from flower to flower,in the woods
or the garden, than he would be in a small
house, no matter how prettily built! I
think it is a very bad sign to see children
cruel or unkind to birds; and, on the
other hand, it always gives me a favorable
idea of the character of a boy or girl,
when I know that he or she is a lover of
birds, and cannot bear to give them pain.
Several months ago, I visited the institu-
tion for the education of the deaf and
dumb, in the upper part of the city ; and
to one of the classes there, under the
charge of my esteemed friend Mr. Carey,
I told a story of a humming-bird. I re-
lated it first to Mr. Carey, and then he
communicated it to the class, by means

 

of the signs which are used in such insti-
tutions. After the story was told, and
the pupils had written it, in their own

language, on their large slates, I requested

their teacher to ask them what they would
do, in case a humming-bird should come
so near them that they could catch it;
and I could not help loving every one of
those boys and girls for the kind spirit
which they all exhibited in their answers.
Some said they would not catch it at all ;
some that they would take it into their
hand, and look at it a little while, just
long enough to see how pretty it was ;
others that they would keep it for a day
or two in a cage. But not one of them
had a thought of harming the little bird,
or of detaining him, except for a few
hours, from his favorite haunts among the
wild flowers.

A gentleman who made a voyage up
the river Amazon, and who afterward
published an account of his travels in that
part of the country through which this
noble stream flows, gives some interesting
particulars respecting the humming-birds
he saw. There are varieties of this bird
there, which are never seen among US.
They are much more abundant, too, in
that country, than they are here. “ Where-
ever,” says this writer, “a creeping vine
opens its fragrant cluster, or wherever a
tree-flower blooms, these little things may
be seen. In the garden or in the woods,
over the water, everywhere, they are dart-
ing about, of all sizes—from one that
might easily be mistaken for a different
variety of bird, to the Hermit, whose body
is not half the size of the bees buzzing
about the same sweets. The blossoms of
the inga-tree bring them in great numbers,