RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD 399 



J. H. Bowles (Dawson and Bowles, 1909) writes: 



There is scarcely a conceivable situation, except directly on the ground, that 

 these birds will not select for a nesting site. Such odd places have been 

 chosen as a knot in a large rope that hung from the rafters of woodshed ; and 

 again, amongst the wires of an electric light globe that was suspended in the 

 front porch of a city residence. It may be found fifty feet up in some huge 

 fir in the depths of the forest, or on the stem of some blackberry bush grow- 

 ing in a city lot. 



Very often they form colonies during the nesting season, as many as twenty 

 nests being built in a small area. Some large fir grove is generally chosen 

 for the colony, but a most interesting one was located on a tiny island in 

 Puget Sound. This island has had most of its large timber cut away, and 

 is heavily overgrown with huckleberry, blackberry, and small alders. In the 

 center is the colony, the nests placed only a few yards apart on any vine or 

 bush that will serve the purpose. Huckleberry bushes seem the favorites, 

 but many nests are built in the alders and on the blackberry vines. 



A. W. Aiithony wrote to Major Bendire (1895) : "I found the 

 Rufous Hummingbird very abundant at Beaverton, Oregon. Here 

 they nested in oaks, blackberry vines, and on dry roots projecting 

 from upturned trees. One nest himg from the end of a tall fern, 

 while others, drooping over it from above, hid the beautiful struc- 

 ture from all but accidental discovery. Tlieir favorite sites, how- 

 ever, seemed to be the long, trailing vines overhanging embankments 

 and upturned trees. A number were found in railroad cuts; fre- 

 quently several nests were situated within a few feet of each other, 

 a slight preference being shown for embankments having a southern 

 exposure." 



Wliat few nests of the rufous hummingbird I have seen are rather 

 large, well made, and handsome structures; the body of the nest, 

 including the lining, is made up mainly of pale buff cottony sub- 

 stances, apparently from willow blossoms; but this is mixed with 

 and profusely covered externally with bright-green moss, so that 

 the nest appears to be made largely of this moss ; it is often more or 

 less decorated on the outside with leaf or bud scales, shreds of inner 

 bark, lichens, and various other plant fibres, all of which are se- 

 curely bound on with spider web, making a firm compact structure. 

 Bendire (1895) says that "an average nest measures 1% inches in 

 outer diameter by 1^ inches in depth; the inner cup is about seven- 

 eighths of an inch in width by one-half inch deep." One that I 

 measured was 1% inches in outside diameter. The favorite nesting 

 trees seem to be firs, spruces, and other conifers, but nests have 

 also been found in willows, cypresses, ashes, apple trees, various 

 oaks, and probably other trees, as well as numerous bushes, such as 

 wild currant, salmonberry, hazel, etc. The nests are usually artfully 

 decorated to match their surroundings. Dawson and Bowles (1909) 

 say that "the nesting season is greatly protracted, for fresh eggs 

 may be found from April till July, This makes it seem probable 



