98 The Ottawa Naturalist. [July 



characters, however, are not structural but appear to relate en- 

 tirely to the colours of the birds. 



While there are about 400 species known to science, only 18 

 are found in North America, Five of these come as far north as 

 Canada, four of which are confined to the neighbourhood of the 

 Pacific coast. These are the Allen's, Rufous, Black-chinned 

 and Calliope ; the two latter far exceeding the others in numbers. 



It is characteristic of the whole family that they build beauti- 

 ful nests, diminutive certainly, but put together with the greatest 

 skill and unsurpassed neatness. Usually they consist of white 

 cotton from willows and other trees, but in the case of one, the 

 Black-chinned Hurnmer, the buff-coloured cotton of the sycamore 

 is often used exclusively, producing a nest of the colour of a 

 sponge. Those built of white cotton are always covered, one 

 eastern species using lichens, but those in the West appear to use 

 anything that is convenient, mosses, strips of bark, fragments of 

 weed stems and a few lichens being generally found. 



The most common Hummer in California is the Annas, which 

 does not wander into Canada, but its abundance in the South 

 makes it worthy of a few remarks here. 



It has iridescent red feathers on the throat, a feature so com- 

 mon with the males in this family, and has a similar patch over 

 the head, giving it a most gorgeous appearance. Moreover the 

 male has what Mr. Charles A. Allen calls "a very nice little song," 

 which he delivers from some twig or perhaps a telegraph wire. 



This species often builds on the nest of the previous year, a 

 habit which seems more or less common throughout the family. 

 The earliest record of a Hummer's nest in the United States be- 

 longs to this bird, a nest having been found on January 20th by 

 Mr. Emerson at Hayward, Cal. 



Turning, however, to Canadian species, we notice first Allen's 

 Hummer, a small chestnut-bodied bird with greenish back. This 

 is a bird of wide distribution, but not so much so as is the Rufous 

 Hummer, which it resembles closely, except that the back of the 

 latter is reddish-chestnut. Allen's Hummer is found in the south- 

 western parts of British Columbia only, which constitute the 

 northern portion of its range. Mr. Allen, after whom it was 



