A PRETTY HUMxMER 107 



cups, and then flying to the twigs of a dead tree that 

 stood in the marsh. There he sat, turning his head 

 this way and that, and watching me with his keen 

 httle eyes. It was plain he did not trust me, and 

 therefore resented my presence. Though an unwel- 

 come guest, I prolonged my call for several hours, dur- 

 ing which I made many heroic but vain attempts to 

 find his nest. 



But what was the meaning of a sharp, insect-like 

 buzzing that fell at intervals on my ear ? Presently 

 I succeeded in tracing the sound to the hummer, which 

 utters it whenever he darts from his perch and back 

 again, especially if there is a spectator or a rival near 

 at hand, for whom he seems in this way to express his 

 contempt. It is a vocal sound, or, at least, it comes 

 from his throat, and is much louder and sharper than 

 the susurrus produced by the rapid movement of his 

 M'ings. This I ascertain by hearing both the sounds at 

 the same time. 



But the oddest prank which this hummer performs is 

 to dart up in the air, and then down, almost striking a 

 bush or a clump of grass at each descent, repeating this 

 feat a number of times with a swiftness that the eye 

 can scarcely follow. Having done this, he will swing up 

 into the air so far that you can scarcely see him with 

 the naked eye ; the next moment he will drop into view, 

 poise in mid-air seventy-five or a hundred feet above 



