fhp: oOlogist 



77 



about 50 that were feeding ia a bare 

 wheat ti-^ltl. The. skin is iu uiy collec- 

 tion but as my notes are rather scant 

 regarding the larks I shall try to tiud 

 out the status of Otocoris alpestrU in 

 my loitallty the cniiiiug winter. 



C. F. Stone, 

 Branc'hport, N. Y. 



The Humming- Bird. 



Most of the hummers sip honey i'."om 

 the flowers. Poised on wings that move 

 so rapidly that they appear like a semi- 

 circle of Aim around their swaying 

 bodies, the birds insert their long beaks 

 into the tubes of flowers and extract 

 nectar with relish. It is true that some 

 of the warblers and kinglets will some- 

 of th warblr shrdluntaoin .shrdluncf 

 times poise in this way before a leaf and 

 peck an insect from its surface, but this 

 occurs rarely, and it is not a regular 

 habit of these birds. The .susurrus of 

 the hummer's wings as he balances in 

 the air or darts from flower to flower 

 has given the birdling his name. One of 

 the most wonderful features of hummer 

 flight is the bird's ability to move back- 

 ward while on the wing — probably the 

 only instance in which a bird is able to 

 accomplish this feat. Mr. Ridgway 

 says that this movement is greatly as- 

 sisted by a forward flirt of the bird's 

 expanded tail. 



There are, however, a few exceptions 

 to this rapid manner of flight, even in 

 the hummer family. One of the most 

 striking is that of the giant humming 

 bird, which flaps its wings in a slow, 

 leisurely way as it hovers over a flower 

 much like the desultory vibrations of a 

 large butterfly's wings. During flight 

 its tail is constantly expanded and 

 closed like a fan, and its body is kept, 

 in an almost vertical position, and 

 seems to be suspended from a central 

 point. 



It is not to be wondered at that the 

 humming birds are sought for decora- 

 tive purposes. Their rich colors and 

 bright ornaments make them a tenipt- 

 'ng prize to the lovers of gaudy fash- 

 ions. Vast numbers are slaughtered in 



Mexico and South America, being killed 

 with fine shot or caught with nets and 

 line. On account of this ruthless de- 

 struction some species are said to be 

 on the verge of extinction, and of 

 course it will be the most beautiful 

 kinds that will be exterminated first. 

 At a sale held in London on March 21, 

 1888, more than 12,000 hummer skins 

 were disposed of and in one week 

 100,000 hummers and other American 

 birds were sold in London at auction. 

 A brilliant hummer, flitting airily amid 

 the foliage and flowers, is "a thing of 

 beauty and a joy forever." On a 

 woman's bonnet such a decoration is 

 little short of garish. All the colors 

 of the spectrum, with many inter- 

 mingled tints, are combined in their ' 

 ;)lumage, so that some of them seem 

 to be truly kalelidoycopic. One of the 

 most striking ornaments of many of 

 the hummers is the "gorget," as it isj 

 called — that is, a gleaming throat patch 

 of imbricated feathers. In the common 

 ruby throat it is ruby, as the name im- 

 plies; in several speciesi, like Costa's 

 humming bird, the tips of the feathers 

 are purple and the baaal portions snow 

 white. In others they gleam in the most 

 metallic red or violet. Sometimes the 

 feathers of these gorgets are elongated 

 into a beautiful ruff on each side of the 

 neck, or into a bearded tuft reaching 

 down from the chin. 



Still more wonderful are the crests 

 worn by a number of the species. There 

 for instance, is Guerin's helmet crest, 

 whose head is surmounted by a tall, 

 slender top-knot that looks like a mini- 

 ature pyramid, while a pointed beard of 

 almost the same length depends from 

 Its chin. Princess Helena's coquette has 

 a double crest, both parts running to a 

 sharp point, making them look like two 

 tiny horns, while its gorget is decor- 

 ated at its base with a semi-circle of 

 elongated feathers that stream out like 

 pennants. The spangled coquette has a 

 crest of the finest spray spread out in 

 the form of a round fan, dappled with 

 metallic black spots. 



No less varied and wonderful are the 

 tails of the hummers. Robert Ridgway 

 says: "The shape and development of 



