338 BULLETIN 17 6, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and one other reported to me, six were in Hornbeams, two in Yellow Birch, 

 and one each in Sugar Maple, Red Maple and Beech. I have seen nests in 

 Hemlocks in other regions • ♦ • 



The nests found have ranged from five to 18 feet from the ground or water, 

 all but two of them being actually over water. 



Saunders (1936) also points out that "the distribution of Humming 

 Birds in Quaker Run valley is governed primarily by the occurrence 

 of Bee Balm, Monarda didyma, the flower upon which they depend 

 chiefly for nectar at the beginning of their breeding season in this 

 region." 



Bendire (1895) states that the height of the nest varies "from 6 to 

 50 feet high, usually from 10 to 20 feet from the ground." Of the 

 nest itself Saunders (1936) says: 



The nesting materials are of four kinds, bud scales, plant down, lichens and 

 spider silk * * *. The bud scales make up the bulk of the nest, but by the 

 time it is finished they are entirely covered by the lichens and plant 

 down. * * « 



Lichens * * * are put on the outside before the plant down is put in. 

 The lining, in one case at least, was not put into the nest at all until some 

 days after the eggs were laid and incubation begun. The bird continues adding 

 lining material to the nest after the young are hatched, in one case gathering 

 Fireweed down and taking it to the nest when the young were two weeks old. 

 The plants from which down is gathered in Allegany Park are Fireweed, Canada 

 Thistle, Orange Hawkweed and Rattlesnake Root. Possibly others such as 

 Milkweed and various Composites are used also, but the Fireweed seems to be 

 the most commonly used lining material. The bird gathers thistle dowTi that 

 is flying about in the air, but in the case of Fireweed gathers it directly from 

 the plant * * * 



I have never seen the Hummingbird gathering or working with the spider 

 silk which holds the nest together and fastens it to its limb. The fastening of 

 the nest to the limb is probably an early step in the nest building. But the 

 spider silk is an important item, and in one nest I have seen, was run out and 

 wrapped along two or three twigs that branched out from the point where the 

 nest was fastened, to a distance of 15 inches. 



A. Dawes DuBois, in a letter to Mr. Bent, describing the behavior 

 of a female bird while weaving her nest, says: "I stationed myself 

 close to the nest (which was 12 feet from the ground) and watched 

 the bird come and go. She always flew off in the same direction and 

 sometimes was away for five minutes or more. On returning with 

 a tiny tuft of down in her bill, she alighted at once upon the nest and 

 began to tuck the material into its walls on the inner side, using her 

 delicate bill like a needle; then she vigorously worked her body up 

 and down, and round-about thereby enlarging and shaping the cavity. 

 Afterward she tucked or adjusted more securely the lichens on the 

 outside. The male bird was not seen at any time." 



H. E. Wheeler (1922) says that "the behavior of the female will 

 invariably betray her home. It is easier still to locate the 'house' 

 if the birds are building * * * for the birds keep their territory 



