Hummingbird WESTERN BIRDS 



the summer months, is found the Broad-tailed Hum- 

 mingbird, the female of which is nearly five inches long. 

 Florence Merriam Bailey says that this bird has been 

 recorded at Oakland, California, and that in the Sacra- 

 mento Mountains at 9,000 feet they were abundant the 

 last of May, feeding from the gooseberry bushes. The 

 noise made by the wings was a metallic rattle quite dif- 

 ferent from that made by the ordinary Hummer. Though 

 much larger than the Ruby-throat, the male of this spe- 

 cies more nearly resembles it in coloring than any other, 

 having the green upper parts and the rosy-pink gorget, 

 which is rounded as is that of the eastern bird. The 

 tail, however, is rounded and the feathers are broad and 

 some of them edged with rufous. The female resembles 

 the other females of this genus, differing from most of 

 the others in having brownish sides, and rufous on outer 

 tail feathers with a black subterminal band and white 

 tips. Her larger size will help to differentiate her. Mrs. 

 Bailey says that the nest is usually within 15 feet of 

 the ground on branches of trees, often overhanging a 

 mountain stream, made of willow or cottonwood down 

 covered with lichen alone, or lichen, bark, leaves, and 

 plant fibers. 



GENUS SELASPHORUS : RUFOUS 

 HUMMINGBIRD. 



Rufous Hummingbird: Seldsphorus rufus. 



FAMILY— HUMMINGBIRDS. 



The very gayest of all the Hummingbirds is the 

 Rufous, which is a passing migrant, only, in the valleys 

 of California, but breeds in the mountains in the central 

 and northern part of the State. This little bird even 

 goes north to latitude 61° in Alaska to raise its family, 



62 



