THE CALLIOPE HUAIMINGBIRD. 



403 



pursued when the cat or a smjoping 

 chipmunk is the object of attention, 

 but tlie change in temper is unmis- 

 takalale. I do not feel sure that tlie 

 spitfire will strike an enemy. Ijut the 

 sudden explosions nf winged fury 

 hard about the ears are quite suffici- 

 ent to ]jut a prowler in a panic. 



The secret of nest-finding in the 

 case of Hummingbirds lies in the 

 tell-tale wing-ljuzz of the female as 

 she quits her nest. In this way, on 

 the 17th of June. 1906. we found 

 the first ^^'asllington nest of the 

 Calliope, in the dense greenery of 

 La Chapelle's Springs, on the 

 Columbia Ri\-er, near Chelan Falls. 

 The nest was saddled on a slender 

 descending branch of a red birch 

 tree, at a point seven feet out from 

 the trunk and twelve feet from the 

 ground. It was overshadowed by a 

 little canopy of leaves, and was held 

 in ]jlace not only by its lashings of 

 cobwebs, but by a drooping filament 

 from a loftier branch. 



In eastern Oregon Bendire found 

 these birds nesting extensively in 

 the pine trees. The nests were usu- 

 ally settled upon a cluster of pine 



cones, and so closely simulated their surroundings that detection would have 

 been impossible save for the \'isits of their owners. Ridgwav figures* a four- 

 story nest taken at Baird. California, and belie\ed to represent tlie occupation 

 of successive seasons. 



Taken in Sp'ohanc. 



Photo by F. S. Merrill. 



A NEARER VIEW. 



a. The Hummingbirds (Rep. Nat. Mus., 



pp. 253.383, plate I). 



