OCR Text |
Show The Humming Bird. Scientifically humming birds aro "trochllldao," and those who make a special study of them aro "trochl dlsto" although tho birds aro not identical with the old Greek "t'rochl-lus" "t'rochl-lus" or "runner" bird, which, according accord-ing to Herodotus, cnterjd the laws of tho sleeping crocodllo and obliged its big friend by picking leeches from his throat. Tho Spanish namo for tho humming bird Is "tominojo" moaning a third of a dram, and referring, of course, to tho bird's minuteness. But the prettiest names are those, such as tho French "froufrou," which refer to tho humming noise sometimes produced pro-duced by tho almost Incredibly rapid vibration of tho wings. "Purring with hor wings" Is tho expression of Thomas Morton (1C32), the first English Eng-lish writer to mention the humming bird. |