OCR Text |
Show The Humming Gird. Scleiultlcnlly humming birds aro "trochllidae," ami those who make a Bpeelal study of them aro "trochlN dlste" although tho birds aro not Identical with the old Greek "trochl-lus" "trochl-lus" or "run ,vr" bird, which, accord ing to Herod tus, enter..i tho laws of the sleeping crocodile nnd obliged Its big friend by picking leeches from his throat. The Spanish name for tho humming blrj Is "tomlnejo" meaning a third of a dram, and referring, of course, to tho bird's minuteness, But the prettiest names nre those such as tho French "froufrou," which refer to tho humming noise sometimes produced pro-duced by tb" almost Incredibly rapid vibration of tho wings. "Purring with her wings" Is tho expression of Thomas Morton (102), tho first English Eng-lish writer to mention tho humming ' blid. |