Letters, Announcements^ ^c. 215 



Habits of the Rufous-backed Humming-bird (Selaspliorus 

 riifus).— Ill the lust Part of 'The Auk' (pp. 76-77), Mr. 

 H. W. Henshaw gives the following interesting account of 

 this beautiful species, as observed by him in mountains about 

 forty miles east of Santa Fe, New Mexico : — 



'' The number of representatives of this and the preceding 

 species that make their summer homes in these mountains is 

 simply beyond calculation. No one whose experience is 

 limited to the Eastern United States can form any adequate 

 idea of their abundance. They occur from an altitude of 

 about 7500 feet far up on the mountain sides, as high up, in 

 fact, as suitable flowers afford them the means of subsistence. 

 They are most numerous at an altitude of from 8000 to 9000 

 feet. During the entire summer they frequent almost ex- 

 clusively a species of &crophularia which grows in clumps in 

 the sunnier spots of the valleys. From early dawn till dusk 

 the Humming-birds throng around these plants intent on 

 surfeiting themselves Avith honey and the minute insects 

 that the honey attracts. The scene presented in one of these 

 flowering areas is a most attractive one. Males and females 

 all flock to the common feeding-ground, and as the Hummers, 

 especially the Rufous-backed species, are pugnacious and hot- 

 tempered in the extreme, the field becomes a constant battle- 

 ground whereon favourite flowers and favourite perching- 

 grounds ai'e contested for with all the ardour that attaches 

 to more important conquests. The fiery red throat of the 

 Rufous-backed Hummer is an index of its impetuous, aggres- 

 sive disposition; and when brought into conflict with the 

 other species it invariably asserts its supremacy and drives 

 its rival in utter route from the fields. Nor do the males of 

 this species confine their warfare to their own sex. Gallantry 

 has no place, apparently, in their breasts, and when conquest 

 has put them in possession of a perch near a clump of flowers 

 they wage war on all fresh comers, females as well as males. 



" Some idea of thenumber of Humming-birds in this locality 

 — and in this respect this whole mountain area is alike — may 

 be gained from the statement that in a single clump of the 

 Scrojihularia I have counted eighteen Hummers, all within 



