of sunlight than it does like a living being.
3. But, you ask, why are they called humming birds? It is
because they make a soft, humming noise by the rapid
motion of their wings--a motion so rapid, that as they fly you
can only see that they have wings.
4. One day when walking in the woods, I found the nest of
one of the smallest humming birds. It was about half the size
of a very small hen's egg, and

THIRD READER. 59
was attached to a twig no thicker than a steel knitting needle.
5. It seemed to have been made of cotton fibers, and was
covered with the softest bits of leaf and bark. It had two eggs
in it, quite white, and each about as large as a small
sugarplum.
6. When you approach the spot where one of these birds
has built its nest, it is necessary to be careful. The mother
bird will dart at you and try to peck your eyes. Its sharp beak
may hurt your eyes most severely, and even destroy the
sight.
7. The poor little thing knows no other way of defending
its young, and instinct teaches it that you might carry off its
nest if you could find it.

LESSON XXII.

THE WIND AND THE SUN.
A FABLE.
1. A dispute once arose between the Wind and the Sun, as
to which was the stronger.

60 ECLECTIC SERIES.
2. To decide the matter, they agreed to try their power on
a traveler. That party which should first strip him of his
cloak, was to win the day.
3. The Wind began. He blew a cutting blast, which tore up
the mountain oaks by their roots, and made the whole forest
look like a wreck.
4. But the traveler, though at first he could scarcely keep
his cloak on his back, ran under a hill for shelter, and
buckled his mantle about him more closely.
5. The Wind having thus tried his utmost power in vain,
the Sun began.
6. Bursting through a thick cloud, he darted his sultry
beams so forcibly upon the traveler's head, that the poor
fellow was almost melted.
7. "This," said he, "is past all bearing. It is so hot, that one
might as well be in an oven."
8. So he quickly threw off his cloak, and went into the
shade of a tree to cool himself.
9. This fable teaches us, that gentle means will often
succeed where forcible ones will fail.

THIRD READER. 61

LESSON XXIII.

SUNSET.

62 ECLECTIC SERIES,

LESSON XXIV.

BEAUTIFUL HANDS.
1. "O Miss Roberts! what coarse-looking hands Mary
Jessup has!" said Daisy Marvin, as she walked home from
school with her teacher.

THIRD READER. 63
2. "I