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so in will. Another humming-bird rushes in, knocks the one I court off his perch, and the two go fighting and screaming away at a pace hardly to be followed by the eye. Another time this flying fight is sustained in mid-air, the belligerents mounting higher and higher, till the one worsted in battle darts away, seeking shelter, followed by the victor, who never relinquishes the pursuit till the vanquished, by doubling and hiding, succeeds in making his escape. These fierce raids are not waged alone between members of the same species. At par

ticular seasons, when the southerly wind brings clouds and driving mist between the volcanoes, and all is as a November fog in England, except that the yellow element is wanting, such animation awakes in humming-bird life as would hardly be credited by one who bad passed the same spot an hour or two before; and the flying to and fro, the humming of wings, the momentary and prolonged contests, and the incessant battle cries, seem almost enough for a time to turn the head of a lover of these things.

As a general rule, the most gorgeously-arrayed humming-birds are the fondest of fighting, appearing, like the famous terrier, never to have enough of it. Thus, the

exquisite frill-necked coquettes, and the Royal Blue Myrtle-suckers, both lovely, are greatly addicted to fighting. Of the latter species, M. Montes de Aca says

The pugnacity of this species is very remarkable. It is very seldom that two males meet without an aerial battle. The contest commences with a sharp choleric shriek; after which, with dilated throats, the feathers of the whole of their bodies erected on end, and their tails outspread, they begin to fight with their bills and wings, and the least powerful soon falls to the ground or flies away. I have never known oue of these battles last longer than about ten seconds; and in the specimens I have had under my notice in cages, their fighting has mostly ended in the splitting of the tongue of one of the two, which then surely dies from being unable to feed.

The pugnacity of these little creatures is at its height during the breeding season. At that period, the males will not tolerate the presence of any bird; and so savage are they, that one species, the

Mexican Star, is said to fly at the eyes of large birds, which it pierces with its needle-like bill. But they have the reputation of being even bolder, Old Oviedo declaring that 'when they see a man climb the tree where they have their nests, they flee at his face, and stryke him in the eyes, coming, going, and returning with such swiftness, that no man would rightly believe it who had not seen it' -a prophetic doubt which we may safely endorse. However, be this as it may, it is quite certain that when the Mexicans asserted that the diminutive bodies of hummingbirds contained the souls of slain warriors, the myth had a good foundation of truth.

This readiness for combat, says Mr. Gould, is taken advantage of to find the nest and eggs; all that is necessary being to tie a string to your hat, and wave it round your head, when, if a female be sitting in the neighbourhood, the male will instantly come down upon you; and by watching his return, the nest may be detected. But there is no necessity to resort to any stratagems to procure humming-birds, many thousands of which are killed annually. Mr. Gould states that Frenchmen and Belgians are in the habit of going to South America to procure supplies of these birds; and dealers from those countries have established themselves in some of the cities of that part of the world for the like purpose. From Santa Fé de Bogota alone many thousands of skins are sent every year to London and Paris, and sold as ornaments for the drawing-room, and for scientific purposes. The Indians have learnt the art of skinning and preserving these delicate little creatures; and as a certain emolument attends the collecting of them, they often traverse great distances to procure them districts of more than a hundred miles on either side of Bogota are minutely searched, and from these places alone no less than seventy species of humming-birds are received. The residents of many parts of Brazil also employ

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their slaves in collecting, skinning, and preserving humming-birds for Europe; and many thousands are annually sent from Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernambuco. The inmates of the convents in Brazil require a great number of the richlycoloured species for the manufacture of artificial feather flowers. Thus, it will be seen that there is a countless multitude of these living gems, which, although flashing, for the most part, amidst forests and flowers far removed from the habitations of men, cannot be said to live a useless life, for they keep in check the peculiar kind of insects on which they feed, and thus fulfil one of the objects for which they were designed.

Mr. Gould emphatically contradicts the oft-repeated statement, that humming-birds are shot with water or sand. These devices are never resorted to, the birds, when destroyed by means of a gun, being killed with numbers ten and eleven shot, those being the sizes best suited for the purpose. If smaller shot be used, the plumage is very frequently so cut and damaged that the specimen is rendered of little or no value. By far the greater number fall to the clay ball of the blow-pipe, which the Indians use with perfect certainty of aim. In Brazil very fine nets are employed, and occasionally bird-lime, which, however, sadly mars the beauty of the plumage, as Mr. Gould has found to his cost.

The general rule that the voice of melody is not given to the most gorgeously apparelled birds, has no exception in the case of hummingbirds. They are not altogether denied the power of song, but this, at the best, is only a kind of querulous warble, possessing little variety, while the majority only utter a monotonous chirp. Lesson, who studied the habits of hummingbirds very closely, says that when flying from one place to another, their cry, which he likens to the syllables tère tère, articulated with more or less force, is excited. Most frequently, he adds, they are completely dumb, and he has passed

467

whole hours observing them in the forests of Brazil, without having heard the slightest sound proceed from them. There is, however, one species inhabiting Jamaica, known

as

the Vervain humming-bird, which, according to Mr. Gosse, is the only one that has a real song. This gentleman states that it is the habit of this bird in the spring to sit on the topmost branch of a mango soon after sunrise, and to warble in a sweet but very weak manner a continuous melody for ten minutes at a time.

But as winged gems of unsurpassed glory do humming-birds claim our admiration. On them the great Creator has bestowed the gift of rare and wondrous beauty, clothing them in colours that can only be rivalled by emeralds and rubies, topazes and sapphires. For gorgeous and lovely as are the admirably preserved specimens in Mr. Gould's collection, they fall far short of the brilliancy of the plumage of living birds. The reason is obvious, for the sides of the laminæ, or fibres, of each feather being of different colour from the surface, change when seen in a front or oblique direction; and as each lamina, or fibre, turns upon the axis of the quill, the least motion, when living, causes the feathers to change suddenly to the most opposite hues. The luminous character of the plumage of humming-birds has long engaged the attention of naturalists, and still remains without any very satisfactory solution. Lesson supposes that the brilliant hues are derived from some elements contained in the blood and elaborated by the circulation. Audebert considered the changeableness to be due to the organization of the feathers, which, performing the part of reflectors, causes ruby hues to pass from reddish orange to a crimson reddish black, and again from black to emerald, ruby, crimson, or flame colour. Desirous of having this subject investigated in all its bearings, Mr. Gould placed the feathers of a humming-bird remarkable for their brilliant colour when viewed

in one direction only, in the hands of Dr. Davy. This gentleman writes:

I have examined the feathers of the humming-bird you sent me under a microscope; the result is, that those feathers in which this peculiarity is most strongly marked are membranous, terminating in pointed filaments, set on obliquely, so that, looking from the head, each feather is only partially seen.

Another gentleman to whom Mr. Gould submitted some feathers, states

There are two optical principles only which I can see to be any way concerned in such an effect: one is the cause of the play of colours in mother-of-pearl, which Brewster proved to arise from very fine striated rulings, the distance between the parallel lines not being greater than from the ten-thousandth to the one hundredthousandth of an inch. The other optical principle, which I think, however, to be the most likely to produce the effect in the case of feathers, is the influence of thin plates.

These explanations are not, it must be granted, very satisfactory, and probably the solution, as Mr. Gould observes, still remains to be given.

We have now glanced rapidly at the leading characteristics of these most charming birds; the tiniest of their race; maxime miranda in minimis may be truly applied to them. No wonder that our great ornithologist should have made them his special study, nor that he should have endeavoured to make their wondrous beauty better known. How well he has succeeded will be apparent by an examination of the five stately folio volumes in which he has figured the numerous varieties. Each plate is remarkable for truthful drawing, beauty of design, and the brilliant and exquisite colouring of the birds and plants and flowers resorted to by them. The latter alone are, as we have observed, not only charming artistic compositions, but also valuable for their scientific accuracy, being, for the most part, copied from the Botanical Magazine published by Mr. Reeve. Altogether, we consider this publication to be Mr. Gould's magnum opus; and we strongly recommend all who can afford the cost to possess themselves of the work.

C. R. W.

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1862.]

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BARREN HONOUR.

A Tale.

BY THE AUTHOR OF GUY LIVINGSTONE,' SWORD AND GOWN,' ETC.

CHAPTER XX.

QUAM DEUS VULT PERDERE.

THE
HE noon of night is past, and

Helen Vavasour is alone in her chamber, without a thought of sleep. In truth, the damsel is exceeding fair to look upon-though it is a picture over which we dare not linger-as she leans back, half reclining, on the low couch near the hearth; a loose dressing-robe of blue cachemire faced with quilted white satin, draping her figure gracefully, without concealing its grand outlines: her slender feet, in dainty velvet slippers broidered with seed-pearl, crossed with an unstudied coquetry that displays the arched instep ravishingly; a torrent of shining dark hair falling over neck and shoulder; a thin line of pearly teeth showing through the scarlet lips that are slightly parted; the light of burning embers reflected in her deep eyes, that seem trying to read the secrets of the Future in the red recesses and the fitful flames.

She had been musing thus for many minutes, when a quick step came across the corridor; there was a gentle tap at the door, and it opened to admit Mrs. Brabazon.

I thought I should find you up,' she said. I'm strangely wakeful to-night, Helen, and very much disposed to talk. Do you mind my staying here till you or I feel more sleepy?'

Miss Vavasour assented eagerly; indeed, she was rather glad of an excuse for breaking off her 'maiden meditation;' so she established her visitor in the most luxurious chair she could find, not without a caress of welcome.

Nevertheless, in spite of their conversational inclinations, neither seemed in a particular hurry to make a start; and, for some minutes, there was rather an embarrassed silence. At length Mrs. Brabazon looked up and spoke suddenly.

'Helen, what answer do you mean to give to the Great Earl to-morrow? Don't open your eyes wonderingly; I drew my own conclusions from what I saw last night. Besides, Lady Mildred is perfectly well informed; though she has not said a word to you, she has spoken to me about it, and asked me to help the good cause with my counsel and advice, if I could find time and occasion. Shall I begin?'

She spoke lightly; but the grave anxiety on her face belied her tone. Miss Vavasour's thoughts had been devoted so exclusively to one subject, that its abrupt introduction now did not startle her at all. Her smile was cold and somewhat disdainful, as she replied

"Thank you, very much. But it is hardly worth while to go through all the advantages of the alliance; I have had a full and complete catalogue of them already. They chose Max for an ambassador, and I assure you he discharged his duties quite conscientiously, and did not spare me a single detail; he was nearly eloquent sometimes; and I never saw him so near enthusiasm as when he described the Clydesdale diamonds. He made me understand too, very plainly, that the fortunes of our family depend a good deal upon me. Did you know that we are absolutely ruined, and have hardly a right, now, to call Dene ours?'

Ah, woe and dishonour! Is it Helen's voice that is speaking? Have twelve months changed the frank, impulsive girl into a calculating, worldly woman, a pupil that her own mother might be proud of? For all the emotion or interest she betrays, she might be a princess, wooed by proxy, to be the bride of a king whom she has

never seen.

Some such thoughts as these rushed across Maud Brabazon's mind, as she listened; great fear and pity rose up in her kind heart, till her eyes could scarcely refrain from tears.

'I had heard something of this,' she said, sadly; though I did not know things were so desperate. There are a hundred arguments that would urge you to say-Yes, and only two or three to make you say-No. It is absolutely the most brilliant match in England. You will have the most perfect establishment that ever was dreamt of, and we shall all envy you intensely; it has been contemplated for you, and you have expected the proposal yourself for months; I know all that. Yesterday I should not have thought it probable you could hesitate; to-day-I do beg and pray you to pause. I think you will be in great danger if you marry the Earl. Have you deceived yourself into believing that you love him?

'I don't deceive myself; and I have never deceived him. He is ready and willing to take what I can give, and expects no more, I am certain. I do not love Lord Clydesdale; and I am not even sure that we shall suit each other. But he is anxious to make the trial, and I-am content. I know that I shall try honestly to do my duty as his wife, if he will let me. That is all. Time works wonders, they say; it may do something for us both.'

Still the same slow, distinct utterance; the same formal, constrained manner; as if she were repeating a lesson thoroughly learnt by rote. Maud Brabazon was only confirmed in her purpose to persevere to the uttermost in her warning.

'I have no right to advise,' she said; and moral preaching comes with an ill grace, I dare say, from my foolish lips. But indeedindeed-I only speak because I like you sincerely, and I would save you if I could.

One may deceive oneself about the past, as well as the future. Are you sure that you can forget? Are you sure

that an old love has not the mastery still? Helen, if I were your mother I would not trust you.'

The girl's cheek flushed brightly -less in confusion than in anger.

'You need have no false delicacy, Maud. If you mean that I shall never love any one as I have loved Alan, if you mean that I still care for him more than for any living creature, you are quite right. But it is all over between us, for ever and ever. We shall always be cousins henceforth-no more; he said so himself. If a word could make us all we once were, I don't think I would speak it; I am sure he never would. my dear, it does surprise me beyond everything, to hear you arguing on the romantic side. You never could have worshipped Mr. Brabazon, before or after marriage; and yet you amuse yourself better than any one I know.'

But,

Miss Vavasour's quick temperalways impatient of contradiction -was in the ascendant just then, or she would scarcely have uttered that last taunt. She bitterly repented it when she saw the other cower under the blow, bowing her head into her clasped hands, humbly and sorrowfully.

When Maud looked up, not one of the many who had admired and loved her radiant face would have recognised it in its pale resolve.

'You only spoke the truth, Helen. Don't be penitent; but listen as patiently as you can. At least, my example shall not encourage you in running into danger. I will tell you a secret that I meant to carry to my grave. You incur a greater risk than ever I did; see, how it has fared with me. It is quite true that I did not love my husband when I accepted him; but I had never known even a serious fancy for any one else. I imagined I was hardened enough to be safe in making a conventional marriage. And so-so it went on well enough for some years; but my falsehood was punished at last. They say, it is sharp pain when frozen blood begins to circulate; ah, Helentrust me it is worse still, when one's heart wakes up. I cannot

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