gle to make him go to
bed in his box; but he evidently considers himself sufficiently
convalescent to make a stand for his rights as a bird, and so scratched
indignantly out of his wrappings, and set himself up to roost on the
edge of his box, with an air worthy of a turkey, at the very least.
Having brought in a lamp, he has opened his eyes round and wide, and
sits cocking his little head at me reflectively."

When the weather cleared away, and the sun came out bright, Hum became
entirely well, and seemed resolved to take the measure of his new life
with us. Our windows were closed in the lower part of the sash by frames
with mosquito gauze, so that the sun and air found free admission, and
yet our little rover could not pass out. On the first sunny day he took
an exact survey of our apartment from ceiling to floor, humming about,
examining every point with his bill,--all the crevices, mouldings, each
little indentation in the bed-posts, each window-pane, each chair and
stand; and, as it was a very simply furnished seaside apartment, his
scrutiny was soon finished. We wondered, at first, what this was all
about; but, on watching him more closely, we found that he was actively
engaged in getting his living, by darting out his long tongue hither and
thither, and drawing in all the tiny flies and insects which in
summer-time are to be found in an apartment. In short, we found that,
though the nectar of flowers was his dessert, yet he had his roast beef
and mutton-chop to look after, and that his bright, brilliant blood was
not made out of a simple vegetarian diet. Very shrewd and keen he was,
too, in measuring the size of insects before he attempted to swallow
them. The smallest class were whisked off with lightning speed; but
about larger ones he would sometimes wheel and hum for some minutes,
darting hither and thither, and surveying them warily; and if satisfied
that they could be carried, he would come down with a quick, central
dart which would finish the unfortunate at a snap. The larger flies
seemed to irritate him,--especially when they intimated to him that his
plumage was sugary, by settling on his wings and tail; when he would lay
about him spitefully, wielding his bill like a sword. A grasshopper that
strayed in, and was sunning himself on the window-seat, gave him great
discomposure. Hum evidently considered him an intruder, and seemed to
long to make a dive at him; but, with characteristic prudence, confined