THE HUMMING BIRD. 



THERE is always great excitement when a Hum- 

 ming Bird's nest is found. It is so rarely seen, 

 so skilfully and beautifully made, that it seems more 

 like a bit of bird life from fairy land than a real bird's 

 nest. The nest is generally saddled on a dead twig 

 and covered with the gray lichen w^hich clothes dead 

 twigs, so that unless you see the little mother sitting 

 in it, you pass it by for a gray, lichen-covered knob. 

 Look into it and see the two tiny white eggs not 

 larger than pea beans. 



If the nest looks like that of a fairy bird, the parents 

 look even more like strangers in the Bird World. 

 Among the great gaudy flowers of the tropics, Hum- 

 ming Birds probably seem more in place. Here, 

 however, their quick whirring flight, their silence, 

 their sudden coming and going, make the sight of 

 one something to remember and be glad for. People 

 who love flowers and live among them are oftenest 

 visited by these tiny birds. Often the bird seems to 

 have a regular route, and comes to the same garden 

 and the sarne flowers at nearly the same hour of the 

 day. 



