BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



and while so imprisoned they never moved, and feigned 

 death, but as soon as I opened my hand they were off like 

 a flash. They seem to be especially partial to anything 

 red." ' 



Their fondness for honey-producing flowers has caused 

 many people to believe that they live upon nectar and 

 ambrosia, like the gods of the Greeks, but the Biological 

 Survey, has, by close observation, discovered that they do 

 not visit flowers wholly for the purpose of gathering honey, 

 but for obtaining also small insects that have been 

 drowned in a welter of sweetness. Professor Beal has 

 observed them "hovering in front of a cobweb, picking 

 off insects and perhaps spiders entangled in the net. 

 They have also been observed to capture their food on the 

 wing, like flycatchers. Stomach examination shows that 

 a considerable portion of their food consists of insects and 

 spiders." Professor Beal continues: "Although hum- 

 mingbirds are the smallest of the avian race, their 

 stomachs are much smaller in proportion to their bodies 

 than those of other birds, while their livers are much 

 larger. This would indicate that these birds live to a con- 

 siderable extent upon concentrated sweets, as stated above, 

 and that the insects, spiders, etc., found in the stomachs 

 do not represent by any means all their food." * 



A physician of my acquaintance owns a camp in the 

 New Hampshire woods. A birch near his house was at- 

 tacked by sapsuckers. Sap exuded plentifully and was 

 eagerly sought by two red squirrels, a small swarm of 

 bees, two sapsuckers, and seven hummingbirds. With his 



3 "Life Histories of North American Birds," Maj. Chas. Bendire. 



■* Farmers' Bulletin 506, Biological Survey, U. S. Dept, of Agriculture. 



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