top?" asked the child.

"The little bird produces the sound from which he derives his name, by
beating the air with his wings. This rapid motion is necessary to sustain
its position in the air while sucking the flowers.

"I remember, Lady Mary, first seeing humming-birds when I was about your
age, while walking in the garden. It was a bright September morning, and
the rail-fences and every dry twig of the brushwood were filled with the
webs of the field-spider. Some, like thick white muslin, lay upon the
grass; while others were suspended from trees like forest lace-work, on
the threads of which the dewdrops hung like strings of shining pearls; and
hovering round the flowers were several ruby-throated humming-birds, the
whirring of whose wings as they beat the air sounded like the humming of a
spinning-wheel; and I thought as I gazed upon them, and the beautiful lace
webs that hung among the bushes, that they must have been the work of
these curious creatures, who had made them to catch flies, and had strung
the bright dewdrops thereon to entice them, so little did I know of the
nature of these birds; but my father told me a great deal about them, and
read me some very pretty things about humming-birds; and one day, Lady
Mary, I will show you a stuffed one a friend gave me, with its tiny nest
and eggs not bigger than peas."

Lady Mary was much delighted at the idea of seeing the little nest and
eggs, and Mrs. Frazer said, "There is a wild flower [Footnote: _Noli me
tangere_, Canadian Balsam.] that is known to the Canadians by the name
of the Humming-flower, on account of the fondness which those birds evince
for it. This plant grows on the moist banks of creeks. It is very
beautiful, of a bright orange-scarlet colour. The stalks and stem of the
plant are almost transparent; some call it Speckled Jewels, for the bright