WESTERN BIRDS Hummingbird 



a thing no other member of the family does. During 

 migrations the birds are found in Montana, Wyoming, 

 Colorado, New Mexico, and western Texas, breeding in 

 the mountains of Arizona. 



The male is about three and one-half inches long and 

 his prevailing color is a bright rufous, or cinnamon, the 

 head having green lights, and the breast, below the 

 gorget, being white. The tail is not forked but the mid- 

 dle feathers are broad and pointed at tips, the next to 

 middle are deeply notched on the inner web, sinuated 

 on outer, and the outer tail feathers are narrower than 

 the others. To the ordinary mortal watching the bird 

 whirl among the flowers of the garden, or orange trees, 

 the tail feathers matter little; it is the general reddish 

 color that is noted, and most of all the brilliant 

 long orange-red gorget with its flashes of green lights, 

 that catch the eye and bring an exclamation of delight 

 from the beholder. Surely this is a fiery sky rocket, or a 

 shooting star, come to earth. 



Sometimes these birds come from the south as early 

 as February, staying a few days before passing on. If 

 you are in the mountain canyons in July or August, 

 where grow red larkspurs, pentstemons, Indian pinks, 

 painted cups, wild fuchsias, or tiger lilies, you may see 

 large numbers of these males that are regaling them- 

 selves as they journey southward. Like others of their 

 tribe, they are pugnacious and noisy, keeping up their 

 long-drawn harsh notes as they forage, or fight. Though 

 it is hard to adequately describe the notes of these vari- 

 ous Hummingbirds, there is a difference in them which 

 the keen observer learns to know. Some have much 

 more pleasing voices than others. The handling of the 

 wings, also, produces a different noise. The birds of 

 this genus make a louder, more rattling noise. 



The female Rufous might be considered beautiful 

 were it not for her gayer spouse. She is also rufous 



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