BIRDS WITH A HANDICAP 



them, or else some prowling varmint got them, which 

 last we trust did not occur. 



It seemed but a few days till the last of August, when 

 the Nighthawks began to appear in straggling flocks, 

 flying southward in a leisurely manner, catching insects 

 as they went. On the eighth of September the sky 

 for hours was dotted with them in every direction. It 

 was reassuring to any bird lover to see so many, proving 

 that there must yet be some places where they are 

 abundant. But there came with it also a minor cadence, 

 a thought as of sere and yellow autumn. *'Ned," I 

 said to him, "those migrants are telling us that we shall 

 photograph no more nesting Nighthawks this year." 



Though the art museums of Europe may have some 

 treasures of which America cannot boast, our continent 

 has the distinction of a monopoly of the world's supply 

 of Hummingbirds, the gems of all the feathered crea- 

 tion. Of these there are said to be some four hundred 

 species — the four hundred we may call them I — nearly 

 all of which are peculiar to the tropical regions. Only 

 eio-hteen cross the borders of the United States from 

 Mexico, and appear only in our southwestern States, 

 except one, our familiar little "Ruby- throat," which is 

 found throughout the United States and up as far north 

 as Labrador. Nothing in bird life is comparable with 

 these wonderful tiny creatures. They are literally gems, 

 in that their feathers flash brilliant, wonderful hues 

 which vary as in the kaleidoscope at every angle of 



111 



