bird {Archilochus coluhris) alight on a branch of the laurel tree 

 {Magnolia grandifJora) in our yard. I thought nothing of this 

 at the time, the bird being fairly common, but later I noticed 

 that the bird lit again and again on the same small branch. 



On July 111 left the city on a twelve day trip and on returning 

 was shown a small nest saddled on the very branch that the fe- 

 male had chosen two weeks before. This branch, about the 

 diameter of one's little finger, was twenty feet from the ground 

 and scarcely ten feet from the window of a neighboring house. 

 From this time on I kept a close watch on the actions of the bird. 

 The male bird was not seen about the nest at any time, the work 

 of construction being left entirely to the female. On the 23rd, 

 the nest was outwardly complete with the exception of the top, 

 which was ragged and uneven. 



I watched the female as she flew to and from the nest, bringing 

 small pieces of material that looked like cotton, but later proved 

 to be plant pith, lichens, and other downy substances. The 

 lichens were fastened in place on the outside of the nest by the 

 aid of glutinous saliva from the bird's mouth, which after dry- 

 ing has the appearance and texture of a spider's web. The pith 

 was placed on the inside of the nest and tamped down by the 

 bird's turning around and around and apparently treading with 

 it's feet at the same time, giving the bird a very comical appear- 

 ance during the operation. A few days later the female com- 

 menced to set and her actions during incubation were very in- 

 teresting. She never left the nest if it was raining, but settled 

 down closely, holding her head back and her bill pointing upward. 



The Hummingbird guarded her nest closely at all times, and 

 allowed no bird to come near it. Once she left the nest and drove 

 out of the tree an English Sparrow that had been so bold as to 

 light nearby. A day or two later she chased a June bug that 

 unwittingly flew almost into the nest. One evening another 

 female Hummingbird appeared and the rightful owner, when she 

 watched the intruder circle the nest and fly off, twisted her neck 

 around as an owl does. 



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