When the weather cleared away, and the sun came out bright, Hum
became entirely well, and seemed resolved to take the measure of his
new life with us. Our windows were closed in the lower part of the
sash by frames with mosquito gauze, so that the sun and air found
free admission, and yet our little rover could not pass out. On the
first sunny day he took an exact survey of our apartment from ceiling
to floor, humming about, examining every point with his bill--all the
crevices, mouldings, each little indentation in the bed-posts, each
window-pane, each chair and stand; and, as it was a very simply
furnished seaside apartment, his scrutiny was soon finished. We
wondered at first what this was all about; but on watching him more
closely, we found that he was actively engaged in getting his living,
by darting out his long tongue hither and thither, and drawing in all
the tiny flies and insects which in summer time are to be found in an
apartment. In short, we found that, though the nectar of flowers was
his dessert, yet he had his roast beef and mutton-chop to look after,
and that his bright, brilliant blood was not made out of a simple
vegetarian diet. Very shrewd and keen he was, too, in measuring the
size of insects before he attempted to swallow them. The smallest
class were whisked off with lightning speed; but about larger ones he
would sometimes wheel and hum for some minutes, darting hither and
thither, and surveying them warily, and if satisfied that they could
be carried, he would come down with a quick, central dart which would
finish the unfortunate at a snap. The larger flies seemed to
irritate him, especially when they intimated to him that his plumage
was sugary, by settling on his wings and tail; when he would lay
about him spitefully, wielding his bill like a sword. A grasshopper
that strayed in, and was sunning himself on the window-seat, gave him
great discomposure. Hum evidently considered him an intruder, and
seemed to long to make a dive at him; but, with characteristic