334 BLACK-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. 



Busily occupied in picking off these captives 

 were several very sombre-looking hummingbirds. 

 They poised themselves just as the others did 

 over the flowers, and deftly nipped, as with deli- 

 cate forceps, the helpless insects. I soon bagged 

 one, and found I had a third species, the Black- 

 throated Hummingbird (Trocliilus Alexandri). 

 Were any proof needed to establish the fact of 

 hummingbirds being insect-feeders, this should 

 be sufficient. I saw the bird, not only on this 

 occasion but dozens of times afterwards, pick the 

 insect from off the tree, often killing it in the 

 act; and found the stomach, on being opened, 

 filled with various species of winged insects. 



The habits of the three species differ widely. 

 The Red- backed Hummingbird loves to flit over 

 the open prairies, stopping at every tempting 

 flower, to catch some idler lurking in its nectar- 

 cells. Building its nest generally in a low shrub, 

 and close to the rippling stream, it finds pleasant 

 music in its ceaseless splash. Minute Calliope, 

 on the other hand, prefers rocky hillsides at great 

 altitudes, where only pine-trees, rock-plants, and 

 an alpine flora ' struggle for existence.' I have 

 frequently killed this bird above the line of per- 

 petual snow. Its favourite resting-place is on 

 the extreme point of a dead pine-tree, where, if 



