THE MALE RUBY-THROAT. LAT 
testimony covers not less than fifty nests. 
Some of them were watched assiduously, 
nearly all were examined, and the greater 
part were actually taken; yet of the fifty or 
more male proprietors, only two were seen; 
and concerning these exceptions, it is to be 
noticed that in one case the eggs were just 
laid, and in the other, while the hungry 
nestlings must have kept the mother bird 
extremely busy, her mate was not observed 
to do anything in the way of lightening her 
labors. 
As against this preponderance of negative 
testimony, and in corroboration of Mr. 
Lowell’s and Mrs. Treat’s circumstantial 
narratives, there remain to be mentioned the 
fact communicated to me by Mr. Hoar, that 
a townsman of his had at different times had 
two hummers’ nests in his grounds, the male 
owners of which were constant in their at- 
tentions, and the following very interesting 
and surprising story received from Mr. C. 
C. Darwin, of Washington, through the 
kindness of Mr. Henshaw. Some years 
ago, as it appears, a pair of ruby-throats 
built a nest within a few feet of Mr. 
Darwin’s window and a little below it, so 
