402 



THE CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD. 



this iiearl}- silent but ;il\va}-s beautiful species after the muse of eloquence, 

 Calliope? 



While it is true that the S])ccies may be fnund in alnuidance thruout 

 the higher Cascades, and esjiecially along their eastern slopes, it is hardly 

 just to say with Rendire, that "the (^alliope Hummingbird is a mountain- 

 loving species and during the breeding 

 season is rarely met with below alti- 

 tudes of 4,000 feet, and much more 

 frequently lietween 6,500 to 8,000 

 feet."^ We have found it commonly 

 in the northern and eastern ]iortions 

 iif Washington at much lower alti- 

 tudes, and ha\'e taken its nest in the 

 Ijurning gorge of the Columbia at 

 an altitude of only six hundred feet. 

 Tn the mountains the bird knows no 

 restriction of range, save that it 

 avoids the hea\ily timbered slopes of 

 the \Vest-side; and it is at least as 

 common along the divide as is the 

 Ruf(ius Hummer. 



Witiiout doubt the mind remembers 

 longest those birds which \-isit the 

 mountain heather beds, gorgeous with 

 flowers, and varied beyond descrip- 

 tion. A bit of heather on Wright's 

 Peak at an elevation of 8,000 feet, 

 yielded thirty-two s])ecies of plants in conspicuous bloom within a stone's 

 throw of camp. The Hummers appear to be attracted to the flower beds by 

 color and position rather than by scent, and as sure as we neglected to rise 

 with the sun, a troop of jnizzled lione_\'-hunters hovered by turns over inn- 

 parti-colored blankets. Once a Hummer minutely inspected a red bandana 

 handkerchief which graced the bird-nian"s neck: and once, I regret to say it, 

 fluttered for some moments before his nose ( sunlnirncd !). 



The tower and di\e of the Calliope Hummer prmluces at its climax a 

 squeak of the tiniest and shrillest quality. It is a sight well worth seeing 

 when one of these elfin gallants, flashing like a jewel and bursting with self- 

 consciousness, mounts slowh' upward on vibrating wings to a height of a 

 hundred feet, then darts back with the speed nf lightning to make an afi^ec- 

 tionate pass at the placid lady on the twig below. The same tactics are 



Taken in Spokane. Photo by F. S. Merrill. 



C.M.LIOrF. HUMMER, FEM.^LE. 



Bendirc, Life Hist. N. A. Birds, Vol. II., p. 219. 



