RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD 



397 



years." Mr. Kidgway (1911) includes these States, as well as some 

 mountains in California, in the breeding range. The fact that early 

 migrants appear in these regions in July may have led to the as- 

 sumption that the species was breeding in the vicinity, but no occu- 

 pied nest seems to have been reported. 



Sprinfj.— The rufous hummingbird apparently makes its north- 

 ward migration in spring mainly to the westward of the Kocky 

 Mountains; according to Mrs. Bailey (1928) "it is unknown in spring 

 in both New Mexico and Colorado"; and Mr. Swarth (1904) did 

 not see it in the Huachuca Mountains at any time in the spring 

 and considers it of comparatively rare occurrence in Arizona at this 

 season. In southern California, and probably throughout the State, 

 it is a very common spring migrant, especially through the valleys 

 and foothills of the Pacific slope. Keferring to Los Angeles County, 

 Robert S. Woods (1927b) says that, after the arrival of Anna's 

 hummingbird, "the Rufous Hummingbird is the next of the mi- 

 grants to appear, usually arriving early in March and leaving late 

 in April. During part of this time it is the commonest species. 

 My earliest record for the Rufous is February 17 (1926) and the 

 latest for the spring migration May 1 (1924)." 



Leslie L. Haskin writes to me from Oregon: "In the Willamette 

 Valley the rufous hummingbird is the first of the family to arrive. 

 It appears normally about the first of March, although an occasional 

 earlier individual may often be seen. The males precede the females 

 by a considerable time. My observation is that, while the males 

 are very abundant throughout March, few females will be seen 

 before the last week of that month. The main body of the rufous 

 hummingbird migration arrives just as the crimson-flowered cur- 

 rant (Rihes sanc/umeum) is bursting into bloom, and of the flowers 

 of this shrub the hummingbirds are especially fond. At that time 

 every bush is alive with the darting hummers, and it is one of the 

 most brilliant bird and flower spectacles of the West. The glittering, 

 coppery sheen of the birds and the crimson flowers, borne in profuse 

 drooping panicles, make a brilliant combination." 



Courtship. — A very good account of this bird's courtship is given 

 by G. D. Sprot (1927) as follows: 



In the displays I have witnessed, which have been many, a careful survey of 

 the ground beneath the performer invariably revealed the female sitting mo- 

 tionless on some twig of the low-growing underbrush, and as the aerial acrobat 

 reached the limit of his upward flight she was seen to turn her head slightly 

 and glance admiringly aloft. The male ascended usually with his back to- 

 wards his mate, then turning, faced her, and with gorget fully expanded 

 descended swiftly until within an inch or two of her, when spreading both 

 wings and tail he checked himself and soared aloft again to repeat the per- 

 formance, or else settled on some near-by bush. As he so checked his flight 

 the whining note was produced, undoubtedly by the rush of air through the 

 outspread feathers. 



