A Hummingbird is a Feathered Prism

A hummingbird is a feathered prism, a living rainbow; it captures the very sunlight.
— Donald Peattie, American botanist, naturalist, and author

Notes:
November 16, 1964
Today is the anniversary of the death of the Harvard botanist, Naturalist, Washington Post nature columnist, and author, Donald Culross Peattie, who died at 66. During his lifetime, Donald Peattie was regarded as the most read nature writer in America.
Donald had an older brother named Roderick, who was a geographer and an essayist. Of his younger brother Donald, Roderick once wrote:
“My young brother Donald was very skinny and quite philosophical. He took every faith but theosophy. He had a wonderful memory and a love of beauty, which still marks his life. Doubtless, he was a genius, but I thought him a pest.”