460 HUMMING BIRDS. 



mere amusement, pursue larger birds, such as the Yellow Bird 

 and Sparrows. To man they show but little either of fear or 

 aversion, often quietly feeding on their favorite flowers when 

 so nearly approached as to be caught. They likewise fre- 

 quently enter the green houses and windows of dwellings 

 where flowers are kept in sight. After feeding for a time, the 

 individual settles on some small and often naked bough or 

 slender twig, and dresses its feathers with great composure, 

 particularly preening and clearing the plumes of the wing. 



The old and young are soon reconciled to confinement. In 

 an hour after the loss of liberty the cheerful little captive will 

 often come and suck diluted honey, or sugar and water, from 

 the flowers held out to it ; and in a few hours more it becomes 

 tame enough to sip its favorite beverage from a saucer, in the 

 interval flying backwards and forwards in the room for mere 

 exercise, and then resting on some neighboring elevated object. 

 In dark or rainy weather it seems to pass the time chiefly 

 dozing on the perch. It is also soon so familiar as to come to 

 the hand that feeds it. In cold nights, or at the approach of 

 frost, the pulsation of this little dweller in the sunbeam be- 

 comes nearly as low as in the torpid state of the dormouse ; 

 but on applying warmth, the almost stagnant circulation 

 revives, and slowly increases to the usual state. 



Near the Atlantic this frail creature nests regularly as far north 

 as the Laurentian hills of Quebec, and breeds in more or less 

 abundance southward to Florida and westward to the Plains. It 

 is an abundant summer resident of the Maritime Provinces. 



The fact that insects form a staple diet of these diminutive birds 

 has been satisfactorily proved, though formerly they were sup- 

 posed to feed entirely on honey. Honey doubtless forms a part 

 of their food, and they also drink freely of the sweet sap which the 

 Woodpeckers draw from the maple and birch. 



Another mistake regarding the Humming Birds, — that they 

 never alight while feeding, — has been rectified by several trust- 

 worthy observers. The birds have been seen to alight on the 

 leaves of the trumpet-flower while gathering honey, and also to 

 rest on the tapped trees while they leisurely drank of the flowing 

 sap. 



The young birds are fed by regurgitation. 



