UNDER the shade of a tree, at the end of one of the twigs, hangs a tiny little nest. It swings in the air, and is as light as a feather; for it is made chiefly of moss and down. It is very snug; and within it lie two tiny eggs, of the size of peas, and as white as snow.

Watch a moment, and we shall see what bird it is that has built the nest;for she has only gone to have a sip of honey. It is a lovely place to watch in. Flowers scent the air. Yonder is a deep wood; and strange flowers of every shape and size grow all about. Some are like monkeys, some like bees, some like butterflies. These flowers are called orchids. They grow in England, only not nearly so large as in warm countries.

Hark! the bird is coming. It is the smallest bird in the whole world. Its body is no bigger than a hazel-nut. But its feathers are more lovely than I can describe. It has a green crest on its head, which sparkles like a little star. The colours on its body are green, and gold, and purple. You can scarcely tell where one ends and another begins.

If you look about, you will see more of these little creatures. They are called humming-birds, and live in hot countries, —in India, as well as in America. The woods and groves are alive with them. They flash about here and there, clad in all the colours of the rainbow. The eye is never tired of watching them.

The humming-bird in the picture is sitting on its eggs, to hatch its young ones. When the mother bird is tired, her mate comes and takes her place. Then up she springs, and darts away into the woods, where she chooses some flower that has honey in it.

As she hovers in the air, she moves her wings about so quickly that you can hardly see them. Her wings make a humming sound as she hovers over the flower; and it is from this that she gets her name.

But she is thinking now about the insects. There are a great many of these, hidden at the bottom of the flower. She soon spies them out, and she darts her long tongue into the midst of them. Some insects stick to it; for the tongue is sticky, as if it had been rubbed with glue. The insects are drawn into her mouth; she swallows them, and then darts out her tongue for more.

All this time, she is hovering over the flower, and humming with her wings. When she has had enough of insects, she sips a little honey, and flies back to her nest.

Questions

Of what is the nest of the humming-bird made? Where does it hang? What is the size of the bird? In what kind of countries do they live? What is the humming-bird in the picture doing? Who takes her place when she is tired? What causes the humming? What do these birds feed upon?

Pronunciation

feath'-er monk'-eys scarce'-ly rain'-bow hid'-den

chief'-ly but'-ter-flies crea'-tures pic'-ture swal'-lows

flow'-ers or'-chids col'-ours quick'-ly e-nough’

Write

scent quickly insects

scarcely watching enough

butterflies creatures hovering

在樹蔭之下，一條細樹枝的末端，掛著一個小小的鳥巢。因為這個鳥巢主要是用苔蘚和鳥的絨毛做成的，因此它像羽毛一般輕輕地在風中搖擺。鳥巢非常溫暖舒適，里面有兩個小小的，狀如豌豆，白似雪花的鳥蛋。

觀察一陣子，我們就會發現這個巢是什么鳥筑的。因為這鳥巢的主人只有在啜飲花蜜的時候才會出去。往里面看看，就會發現這個鳥巢非常漂亮?？諝庵袕浡r花的味道。遠處是一片深林，里面長滿了奇花異草。這些花有的長得像猴子，有的像蜜蜂，有的像蝴蝶。他們生長于英格蘭，都屬于蘭科植物，但是不如溫暖氣候的國家的蘭花大。

聽！鳥兒回來了。它是世界上最小的鳥，身體還不如一個榛子大。但是它的羽毛卻美得讓我難以描繪。它頭上的冠是綠色的，像小星星一樣閃閃發光。它身上的羽毛是綠色、金黃色和紫色夾雜在一起的，這三種顏色的界限難以區分出來。

如果你往四周看看，就會發現這種鳥更多的伙伴。這種鳥叫作蜂鳥，生活在印度、美州等炎熱的國家和地區。它們在樹林和果園中穿梭，迅捷地飛來飛去，仿佛披著七色的彩虹。讓你永遠都看不夠。

圖片中的這只蜂鳥正在孵蛋。當母鳥累了的時候，公鳥就會過來替代她。然后母鳥一躍而出，飛入樹林，去啜吸花蜜。

當她在空中盤旋的時候，翅膀拍動得飛快，因而你幾乎都看不到它的翅膀。蜂鳥在花上徘徊的時候，翅膀會發出嗡嗡聲，它也因此而得名。

但是，這只母蜂鳥現在想要的是昆蟲。昆蟲有很多，它們藏在花的底部。母蜂鳥很快就把昆蟲找了出來，然后迅速將長長的舌頭伸向這些昆蟲。因為她的舌頭是有黏性的，好像擦了膠水一樣，所以一些昆蟲就被粘住了。然后，她把這些昆蟲卷入嘴中，吞下它們，接著又開始用它的舌頭捕捉更多的昆蟲。

在捕食的過程當中，她一直在花中盤旋，翅膀嗡嗡作響。她在捕捉完足夠的昆蟲后，就喝一點花蜜，飛回巢中了。