jBtotefi^ from jFtelti anti ^tudp 



A Hummingbird That Wanted Light 



The accompanying picture shows the nest 

 of a Broad-tailed Hummingbird built in a 

 most peculiar situation. I presume it to have 

 been the above-named species, as that is the 

 most common one in this locality, but as 

 only the female was seen I cannot he posi- 

 tive, for tiie females of 

 the Broad-tailed and 

 Rufous-backed Hum- 

 mers are too much alike 

 to be told apart unless 

 one has the specimens 

 in hand. This nest was 

 built, as the photograph 

 shows, on an electric 

 light fixture on the porch 

 of a residence in Colo- 

 rado Springs. The light 

 is directly in front of 

 the front door of the 

 house, and so close to it 

 that the screen door, 

 which swings out, comes 

 within a few inches of 

 the lamp when opened. 

 It was July 18 when the 

 picture was taken. At 

 that time people were 

 passing in and out quite 

 frequently, and sitting 

 on the porch much of 

 the time, but they did 

 not seem to disturb the 

 bird. 



The picture shows 

 how the nest was placed 

 on the fixture much better 

 than I can describe it. 

 In taking the picture I 

 must have been at work 

 over a quarter of an 

 hour, but the bird never 

 budged, though I was 

 fussing about with a 

 step-ladder, using that 

 for a support for the 



camera, in order to get somewhere near to 

 a level with the nest. Several exposures 

 were made, the longest of a minute, the 

 others less, but all were time exposures, 

 and not a single negative shows any trace 

 of the bird having moved. 



Two young were successfully reared in 

 the nest and flew away. The parent bird 

 was seen to come back 

 once after the young 

 had left, examine the 

 nest, and then depart. 

 Possibly, of course, this 

 may have been another 

 bird attracted by the 

 sight of the nest. It cer- 

 tainly seems to be a very 

 remarkable instance of 

 confidence on the part 

 of a bird, when one con- 

 siders the publicity of 

 the location and the 

 constant disturbance the 

 bird was subjected to by 

 people passing in and 

 out, and moving about 

 on the porch. — Edw aro 

 R. Warren, Colorado 

 Springs, Colo. 



The Feeding Habits of 

 the Blue Jay 



In the November- 

 December, 1906, num- 

 ber of Bird-Lore, the 

 Editor offers a welcome 

 to the testimony of orni- 

 thologists from the Mis- 

 sissippi valley upon the 

 feeding habits of the 

 common Jay. It was my 

 good fortune, through a 

 period of nearly twenty 

 years, to be an interested 

 observer of bird-life in 

 that region, principally 

 along the Baraboo and 

 Wisconsin rivers. 



(81) 



