34 NEBRASKA ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION 



A LATE NEST OF THE RUBY-THIIOATED HUMIsriNGBTRD 



FRANK 11. SHOEMAKER, OMAHA 



On the loth of last July, an ornithological friend mentioned to nie the 

 fact that he had found a nest of the Ruby-throated Hunmiing-bird with 

 two young, in the woods near Belle\T,ie, about eight miles from Omaha. 

 He kindly directed me to the nest, and three daj^s later I attemi^ted 

 to find it. ^i.y friend had described the location, and stated that I might 

 know the tree by the i^resence of a nest of the Acadian Flycatcher on 

 one of the lower branches, almost overhanging a wagon road. I missed 

 my directions, however, and failed to find the tree. 



On August 19, as I was leaving a shady ravine where I had been 

 watching a vireo, I hapijened by the merest chance to see a nest of 

 the Humming-bird, placed about eight feet from the ground upon a 

 horizontal branch. I at once recalled my July directions, and went to 

 the opposite side of the tree to look for the Flycatcher's nest, finding 

 it as described. A well-worn road lay not more than twenty feet from 

 the tree. This of course convinced me that the nest was the one for 

 which I had made the unsuccessful search, so I climbed the tree w^ith 

 the intention of cutting off the branch. This I was about to do when I 

 saw^ to my surprise that the nest contained two eggs. Still siipposing 

 it to be the nest which on July 13 had contained two young birds 

 about ready to leave, I was at a loss to understand the circumstance, 

 when I caught sight of another nest on a branch three feet higher. 

 This was weather-beaten and misshapen, and plainly the one described 

 to me; while the nest with eggs, not forty inches from the old nest, 

 was beyond a reasonable doubt a second nesting of the same birds. 

 The second nest was in perfect condition, the lining being soft and 

 thick, and the rims and outer walls covered with sea-green lichens 

 closely bound with an almost invisible mesh of spider webs. Both 

 nests were situated upon the branches about eight feet from the trunk 

 of the tree. I saw neither of the parent birds, though I remained in 

 the immediate vicinity for some time. 



To ascertain the date of most common nesting in this latitude, I 

 consulted all available works on ornithology, over twenty in number, 

 embracing such authorities as Audubon, Wilson, Coues, Eidgway, Ben- 

 dire, Maynard, and Davie, as well as state or local treatises such as 

 those of Oberholser, Hatch, Butler, and Cook, finding the dates to 

 range from May 10 to July 15. In all these works I found but two 

 detailed references to late nests. Mr. Oberholser mentions a nest \vith 

 eggs found July 24 in Wayne county, Ohio, and Major Bendire speaks 

 of a nest with fresh eggs August 7. I regret to state that no partic- 

 ulars are given concerning the nest last mentioned, as to locality or 

 even latitude. This investigation convinced me, however, that August 

 19 is an excei)tionally late date. The few nests with eggs which have 



