. The human side of birds . ch others feathers in quite afriendly and efficient manner, not unlike our mod-ern barbers and hair-dressers. Humming-birds are the most fastidious, the mostbeautiful, and the most diminutive of all the feath-ered tribe. Their native haunts are only in Amer-ica, and chiefly in the parts of South Americawhere the climate is very warm. They fill the placetaken in the Old World by the sun-birds. In Indiathese sun-birds are often referred to as humming-birds; but the real humming-birds are confined toAmerica. The brilliancy of their colours, the ele-gance of their forms
. The human side of birds . ch others feathers in quite afriendly and efficient manner, not unlike our mod-ern barbers and hair-dressers. Humming-birds are the most fastidious, the mostbeautiful, and the most diminutive of all the feath-ered tribe. Their native haunts are only in Amer-ica, and chiefly in the parts of South Americawhere the climate is very warm. They fill the placetaken in the Old World by the sun-birds. In Indiathese sun-birds are often referred to as humming-birds; but the real humming-birds are confined toAmerica. The brilliancy of their colours, the ele-gance of their forms, and the manifold arrange-ments and colour effects of their costumes is in-describable. The broad-tailed humming-birds are most carefulabout their toilette. Every morning they go tobathe at daylight, however cold and damp the airmay be. They are fond of having party-baths, likethe old Romans, and may be seen in such numbersas to remind one of a swarm of bees; hither andthither they dart, in their rapid flight, dipping here. Humming-birds are most at home among the orchids of the tropics, and arevaried in form and colour as are the orchids themselves COPTHIOHT, 1»IT, •» FRtDimCK » »TOKr» COMPINV BIRDS AND THEIR PARLOURS 163 and there into the water with their feet and breasts,and repeating the act until their plumage is thor-oughly cleansed. When they have completed theirdainty toilettes, these beautiful little winged-elvesgo forth upon their daily duties amid the at the end of the day they often gather againto refresh themselves with another dainty dip be-fore seeking their homes for rest. The famous saber-winged humming-bird is oneof the most beautiful of bird beings. With itsbrilliant green and violet-blue hues, and tail of blackand white, it is more like some brilliant orientaljewel than a bird. This little fellow bathes in thedew that collects upon the leaves of trees. Certaintrees that hold the moisture in their foliage becomedainty bathing resorts, and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidcu319240, booksubjectbirds
