Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 September 1907 — Bird or Bee? [ARTICLE]

Bird or Bee?

Now that the season of the humming bird is here, and the tiny winged Jewel is darting in and out among sweet blossoms, it may be interesting to know what some early observers of nature thought in regard to this least of feathered beings. Two quaint observations are published in “Early Long Island,” by Martha Flint, both quoted from letters of the seventeenth century, written from the new country of America. Says one: “The Humblrd is one of the wonders of the country, being no bigger than a Hornet, yet having all the Demensions of a Bird as bill, wings with quills, spider-like legges, small claws. For Colour she is as glorious as the Raine bow.” Adrian van der Donck, one of the Hollanders of Nieuw Nederlandt in 1G42, writes of a /

“Curious small bird concerning which there are disputations whether it Is a bird or a bee. It seeks its nourishment from flowers like the bee and is everywhere seen regaling itself on the flowers. In flying they make a humming noise like the bee. It is only seen in : Nieu\»’ Nqderlandt in the season of flowers. They are very tender and cannot be kept alive, but we press them between paper and send them as presents to. our friends.”