ind orders of his master, and often of his own ccord. He was perfectly harmless, and loved o be caressed. It must not, however, be forgotten, that this creature had been carefully taught: much pains had been taken with him. But a well-educated monkey would have done the same."

"There was a cameleon in the collection, papa: I never saw one before. I much wanted to see one."

"Forbes tells us, that in India they are to be found in every thicket. He gives the best account I have ever seen of this animal. I will read you a part of it.

"This little creature,' he says, 'is about nine inches long: the body only half that length, varying in circumference, as it is more or less inflated. The head, like that of a fish, is immovably fixed to the shoulders; but every inconvenience is removed by the structure of the eyes, which, like spheres rolling on an invisible axis, are placed in deep cavities, projecting from the head. Through a small perforation in the exterior convexity, appears a bright pupil, surrounded by a yellow iris, which, by the singular formation and motion of the eye, enables the animal to see what passes before, behind, or on either side; and it can give one fye all these motions, while the other remains

perfectly still. A hard rising protects these delicate organs; another extends from the forehead to the nostrils. The mouth is large and furnished with teeth, with a tongue half the length of the body, and hollow, like an elephant's trunk. It darts nimbly at flies and other insects. On the fore feet are three toes nearest the body, and two without: the hinder exactly the reverse. With these claws it clings fast to the branches, to which it sometimes entwines itself by the tail, and remains suspended. The skin is granulated like shagreen, except a range of hard teeth-like excrescences on the ridge of the back, which are always of the same colour as the body; whereas, a row of similar projections beneath continue perfectly white, notwithstanding any change of the animal.'”

"How wonderful it is, papa, that it should so alter its colour, as I have heard it does!"

"It is, indeed. I think Forbes has a few interesting sentences on this subject. Yes, here they are. The general colour of the cameleon so long in my possession, was a pleasant green, spotted with pale blue: from this it changed to a bright yellow, dark olive, and a dull green; but never appeared to such advantage as when irritated, or a dog approached it. The body was then considerably inflated, and the skin clouded like tortoise-shell, in shades of

yellow, orange, green, and black. A black object always caused an almost instantaneous transformation: the room appropriated for its accommodation was skirted by a board painted black: this the animal carefully avoided; but if he accidentally drew near it, or we placed a black hat in his way, he was reduced to a hideous skeleton, and from the most lively tints became black as jet. On removing the cause, the effect as suddenly ceased: the sable hue was succeeded by a brilliant colouring, and the body was again inflated."

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"I thank you, papa, for this description. Though I have seen the little creature, I should not have known so much of it without your kind information. There were three stuffed humming-birds, with a nest and some eggs in it, on a branch of a shrub. The wonderful power and wisdom of God, papa, appear as vast in the lesser as in the greater parts of creation. Do they not?"

"They do, Edwin. And the humming-bird is a beautiful little creature."

"Indeed it is, papa: I think I have seen bees nearly as large. The bill was black. I observed feathers on them that were grey, and white, and dark blue, and red, and of a violet brown. The nest was round, like our common birds' nests. The inside was lined with a very

soft down: the outer part was built of fine green moss. The eggs, of which there were four in the nest, were white, and about as big as a pea."

"Then there were two more than there should have been, Edwin. If my memory does not fail me, the humming-bird lays only two. It flutters about very much like a bee from flower to flower, humming as it flies, from whence it has its name. The places they frequent are often strewed with flowers; for if they do not find any food in a flower, they will tear it to pieces in anger. They do not feed on insects or fruit; but have been kept alive for weeks on a little sugared water. Mr. Forbes tell us, that whilst he was at the Brazils, he used daily to walk in a beautiful valley in the neighbourhood of St. Sebastian. There,' says he, thousands of nature's choristers, arrayed in all the brilliancy of tropical plumage, enlivened the exten$ive orange groves. The humming-bird, the smallest and most lovely of the feathered race, buzzed like the bee, while sipping the nectareous dew from the blossoms of the flowers. Nothing can exceed the delicacy of these little beauties; especially of that which, from its minuteness, is called the fly-bird. Its bill and legs are not thicker than a pin: its head, tufted with glossy jet, varies with every motion into

shades of green and purple. The breast is of a bright flame-colour. Every feather, when viewed through a microscope, appears as if fringed with silver, and spotted with gold."

"Oh, papa, how greatly I should have delighted to have been with him there! I would have caught some of them, and brought them home."

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'No, Edwin, you would not have brought them home, because this would have been impracticable. They would not have lived long in confinement: they are too delicate to bear it. And even if you could have brought them to England, the coldness of our climate would soon have killed them."

"I should like to have some of their feathers to examine through a microscope. Each of them would present a fine object: would they not, papa ?"

"No doubt they would, Edwin. In the museum belonging to the university of Oxford, there is a curious model of a ship, and a picture of our Saviour going to crucifixion, composed entirely of the feathers of the humming-bird. They are curious articles."

"I should like to see them."

"When I take you to Oxford, which I in