158 



Bird- Lore 



A Hummingbird Experiment 



Our trumpet-creeper was full of blos- 

 soms, and a Hummingbird visited them 

 many times a day, not to their advan- 

 tage, for when the supply of nectar ran 

 low she would slash the tube of the 

 flower, near the calyx, insert her bill 

 there, and usually the flower would fall 

 when she flew away. 



She would sit on a low spray for forty 

 minutes at a time, sometimes preening 

 her feathers, but quite as often merely 

 enjoying life. Then she would make 

 another dash at the flowers and feed 

 with renewed energy. 



One day I painted a trumpet-flower in 

 water-colors, on a rather stiff piece of 

 Whatman paper. I painted it as a real 

 flower would look if slit down on one 

 side and spread flat, and I colored both 

 sides. Then I cut out the flower, bent 

 it into shape, and fastened the edges 

 together. Inside the tube I put a small, 

 cylindrical bottle, and tied the flower to 

 the trumpet-creeper in an almost normal 

 position. The little bottle I filled with 

 sugar-and-water, not too thick. 



To my delight the Hummingbird visited 

 that flower with no more hesitation than 

 the real ones, and very soon preferred it, 

 and I had to fill up the bottle at least 

 twice a day. 



One day I tried holding the flower in 

 my hand, at a little distance from the 

 creeper, and the Hummingbird flew to it 

 as fearlessly as if I were a vine. 



r left the painted flower on the trum- 

 pet-creeper until a heavy rain washed off 

 most of the color, and then I removed it. 

 There were very small insects in the 

 sugar-and-water, but I am sure that the 

 Hummingbird preferred the latter, for she 

 ate much of it. I am not sure that she 

 ate any of the insects. 



The male seldom came to the trumpet- 

 creeper, but once or twice he also fed 

 from the painted flower. Most of his 

 time was spent in slashing off the spurs 

 of the nasturtiums to get at their nectar. 



We had hardly one perfect nasturtium 

 flower all summer long, owing to his 

 attacks. — Caroline G. Soule, Brooklhie, 

 Mass. 



An Interesting Record 



While examining, recently, Audubon's 

 manuscript journals at the home of his 

 grand daughter, Miss Maria R. Audubon, 

 whose volumes 'Audubon and His Journal' 

 alone adequately present the life of the 

 famous ornithologist, I encountered an 

 interesting record which, through Miss 

 Audubon's courtesy, I am permitted to 

 publish 



In the latter part of March, 1837, 

 Audubon, with his son John and friend 

 Edward Harris, embarked from New 

 Orleans on the revenue cutter 'Campbell' 

 which had been placed at his service by 

 the United States Government for a cruise 

 along the west gulf coast to gather material 

 for the 'Ornithological Biographies,' three 

 volumes of which had at that time been 

 published 



On April i, they anchored in the South- 

 west Pass of the Mississippi, and in his 

 journal recording in detail the observations 

 of that day, measurements of specimens 

 collected, etc., there occurs the following 

 interesting entry; " Fidigiila histrionica. 

 Harlequin Duck. — Saw a pair in perfect 

 plumage. Quite a wonder." 



As this species had already been treated 

 by Audubon (Orn. Biog. Ill, 1835, 612) 

 the fact that he had observed it in Louis- 

 iana does not appear to have been men- 

 tioned by him in his works, and the record, 

 therefore, is evidently not alone the only 

 known instance of the occurrence of the 

 Harlequin Duck in that State, but in the 

 Southern United States. As the species 

 was apparently more common in Audu- 

 bon's time than it is now, and bred further 

 South than it does at present, it is not im- 

 probable that its distribution in winter was 

 then more extended. — Frank M. Chapman, 

 American Aluseum of A'atural History, 

 A'eu' York Citv. 



