RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. 



Trochilus colubris. 



Char. Above, metallic green ; wings and tail brownish violet or 

 bronzy ; chin velvety black ; throat rich ruby, reflecting various hues 

 from brownish black to bright crimson ; belly whitish. Female and young 

 without red on the throat, which is dull gray; tail-feathers barred with 

 black and tipped with white. Length 3 to 3^ inches. 



Nest. In an orchard or open woodland ; placed on a horizontal branch 

 or in a crotch ; made of plant down firmly felted and covered exteriorly 

 with lichens. 



Eggs. 2- ? ; white, with rosy tint when fresh ; 0.50 X 0.30. 



This wonderfully diminutive and brilliant bird is the only 

 one of an American genus of more than a hundred species, 

 which ventures beyond the Hmit of tropical climates. Its 

 approaches towards the north are regulated by the advances of 

 the season. Fed on the honeyed sweets of flowers, it is an 

 exclusive attendant on the varied bounties of Flora. By the 

 loth to the 20th of March, it is already seen in the mild 

 forests of Louisiana and the warmer maritime districts of 

 Georgia, where the embowering and fragrant Gelsemium, the 

 twin-leaved Bignonia, with a host of daily expanding flowers, 

 invite our little sylvan guest to the retreats it had reluctantly 



