HUMMINGBIRDS 



with green mosses and lichens. Sometimes soft 

 feathers are used as a resting place for the 

 eggs. 



In the spring when the eucalyptus trees are 

 in blossom, 1 have often seen these Hummers 

 chasing each other from tree to tree. One may 

 often find this Hummingbird nesting in the 

 eucalyptus, but it is hard to say that any tree or 

 place is its favorite. I have seen nests saddled 

 on the limb of an orchard tree, or the bird may 

 even select a cholla cactus. I saw one built on 

 the curve of an electric light wire under a 

 porch. 



In the early spring, the male often makes 

 quite an effort at singing when he is perched 

 on a wire or dry twig. Some people consider 

 it more a high-pitched squeak than a snug, hut 

 it is continuous. Mr. Charles A. Allen says, 

 " Its simple little lay sounds like tc-iiif. tc-iiit, 

 te-ivicu, 7vicii. 7vicii, repeated over and over 

 again, and when angry it utters a verv harsh. 

 rasping screech." 



When the eggs of the Hummingbird hatch, 

 the birds look like two tiny black bugs. The 

 first sign of feathers is a light streak of brown 

 along the middle of the back. But the queerest 

 thing in the life of the Hummingbird is to watch 



the mother feed her young. She collects sweets 

 from the flowers, little spiders and other insects 

 which she swallows, and then she feeds by re- 

 gurgitation. She braces her tail against the side 

 of the nest, draws her dagger-like bill straight 

 up above and plunges it down the baby's throat 

 to the hilt. Then she starts a jabbing process as 

 if to puncture him to the toes. In this way, 

 she pumps his stomach full of food. It looks 

 like the murder of the infants. 



I have never seen a Hummingbird fledgling 

 fall from the nest in advance of his strength, as 

 a young Robin does. When the time comes, he 

 seems to spring into the air fully grown, clad in 

 glittering armor, as Minerva sprang from the 

 head of Jove. 



One day as I watched a young Humming- 

 bird in the nest, I learned the reason. He 

 sat on the nest edge, stretched his wings and 

 combed out his tail-feathers with his bill. Then 

 he tried his wings. He began slowly, as if getting 

 up steam. He made them buzz till they almost 

 lifted him oflf his feet. He had to hang on to 

 keep from going. In this way, he practiced many 

 times during the day, until he mastered the art 

 of balancing and rising in the air. 



William L. Finley. 



BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD 

 Selasphorus platycercus {Swainson) 



A. O, U. Number 432 



Other Name. — P.roari-tailed Hummer. 



General Description. — Length: male, 4'^ inches; 

 female, 4j>i inches. Upper parts, bronze-green; under 

 parts, whitish. 



Color. — Adult Male : Above, metallic bronze- 

 green ; middle pair of tail-feathers metallic bronze- 

 green (sometimes more bluish-green) ; rest of tail. 

 dull purplish or bronzy-black, the pair next to middle 

 pair usually glossed with bronzy-green f sometimes 

 mostly of this color), the outer web edged ti'lth ctnna- 

 mnn-rufous. the next pair sometimes also narrowly 

 edged with the same; wings, dark brownish-slate or 

 dusky faintly glossed with purplish; chin and throat, 

 bright metallic reddish purple; chest, grayish-white, 

 passing into very pale gray on breast and abdomen ; 

 sides and flanks darker grayish, tinged (especially the 

 flanks) with pale cinnamon, the sides and sides of 

 breast overlaid by metallic bronze-green ; thigh tufts, 

 white; under tail-coverts, white with a central area of 

 pale cinnamon or cinnamon-buff (sometimes partly 

 bronze-green); bill, dull black; iris, dark brown. 

 Adult Female: Above, metallic bronze-green, includ- 

 ing middle pair of tail-feathers, the latter sometimes 

 blackish or dusky; three outer feathers, on each side, 



broadly tipped with white, cinnamon-rufous bp.sally, 

 the remaining portion purplish or bronzy-black with 

 bronze-green between the blackish subterminal and cin- 

 namon-rufous basal areas; chin and throat, dull white, 

 the feathers with small center streaks or drop-shaped 

 spots of dusky or dusky bronze ; chest, dull brownish- 

 white or huffy grayish-white, the breast and abdomen 

 similar but, usually, more decidedly tinged with buffy; 

 sides and flanks, light cinnamon ; under tail-coverts, 

 pale cinnamon (sometimes partly grayish) centrally, 

 broadly margined with white; thigh tufts, white; bill 

 etc., as in adult male. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest: Identical with Rufous 

 Hummingbird; often placed in dwarf willow thickets or 

 on small limbs over running water. Eggs: 2, pure 

 white. 



Distribution. — Mountain districts of western United 

 States; north to Idaho, Montana; east to eastern base 

 of Rocky Mountains in Wyoming, western Nebraska, 

 Colorado, New Mexico, and western Te.xas ; west to 

 the Sierra Nevadas (casually to Oakland, California) ; 

 southward over greater part of Mexico ; breeds through- 

 nut its general range ; winters in Mexico and Central 

 America. 



