THE MALE RUBY-THROAT. 137 
I wrote first to Mr. E. S. Hoar, in whose 
garden Mr. Brewster had made the observa- 
tions cited in my previous article. He re- 
plied with great kindness, and upon the point 
in question said: ‘I watched the nest two or 
three times a day, from a time before the 
young were hatched till they departed; and 
now you mention it, it occurs to me that I 
never did see the male, but only the white- 
breasted female.” 
Next I sought the testimony of profes- 
sional ornithologists; and here my worst 
suspicions seemed in a fair way to be con- 
firmed, although the greater number of my 
correspondents were unhappily compelled to 
plead a want of knowledge. Dr. A. K. 
Fisher had found, as he believed, not less 
than twenty-five nests, and to the best of 
his recollection had never seen a male bird 
near one of them after it was completed. 
He had watched the female feeding her 
young, and, when the nests contained eggs, 
had waited for hours on purpose to secure 
the male, but always without result. 
Mr. William Brewster wrote: “I have 
found, or seen in situ, twelve hummers’ 
nests, all in Massachusetts. Of these I took 
