WESTERN BIRDS Hummingbird 



backed Rufous. The outer tail feathers are narrower 

 and the second from the middle are without notch or 

 sinuation. It breeds farther south than does Rufous, 

 ranging the entire length of the coast from British 

 Columbia, south, being a resident and very common on 

 the Santa Catalina Islands, off the southern California 

 coast. At Avalon, a popular resort of the Island, they 

 nest freely in the tall eucalyptus trees among the tents 

 and cottages, while the little canyons are made attractive 

 by their presence. They are noisy little things, making 

 a harsh sound with their wings and keeping up a sharp 

 squeal, especially as they encounter one another. I once 

 watched some of them bathing in their native haunts. 

 A small stream trickled over a steep stone, forming small 

 pools in hollows of the sides as it passed along. Here 

 the Allen Hummers came and standing on the edge of 

 these stone basins, they dipped forward until their 

 breasts touched the water, which was running over their 

 feet and through their tails. Sometimes they held them- 

 selves suspended in the air and let the water just touch 

 their breasts. When they stood, they turned their heads 

 first on one side, then the other, just touching the spray. 

 It was a wonderfully pretty sight. 



The chief difference between the females of Rufous 

 and Allen's is that the outer tail feathers of the latter 

 are narrower. 



One July a young Allen Hummingbird, probably about 

 two weeks old, was found on the ground at Avalon under 

 a tall eucalyptus tree, and being unable to find any nest, 

 it was turned over to me to raise, if possible. The little 

 chap was two inches long from tip of bill to end of tail, 

 the tail and bill each being one-half inch long. Each 

 wing was as long as the entire body. The upper parts 

 were green with the feathers brown-edged, rump rufous, 

 under parts a dull buff with the throat a dark rufous. 

 The fan-shaped tail was rufous, tipped with black. 



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