XI 
THE HUMMINGBIRD 
Hummineprrps are found only in America 
and on the islands near it. They are of many 
kinds, but only one kind is ever seen in the east- 
ern United States. This is known as the ruby- 
throated hummingbird, because of a splendid red 
throat-patch worn by the male. To speak more 
exactly, the patch is red only in some lights. 
You see it one instant as black as a coal, and the 
next instant it flashes like a coal on fire. This 
ornament,—a real jewel, — with the lovely 
shining green of the bird’s back, makes him an 
object of great beauty. 
Every one knows him, or would do so only 
that some people confuse him with bright-colored, 
long-tongued hummingbird moths that are seen 
hovering, mostly in the early evening, over the 
flowers of the garden. 
The ruby-throat spends the winter south of 
the United States. He arrives in Florida in 
March, but does not reach New England till near 
the middle of May. 
