144 THE MALE RUBY-THROAT. 
In last month’s article! I set forth some- 
what in detail Gf the adverb seem inappro- 
priate, as I fear it will, I can only commend 
it to the reader’s mercy) the closeness of our 
watch upon the nest there described. For 
more than a month it was under the eye of 
one or other of two men almost from morn- 
ing till night. We did not once detect the 
presence of the father, and yet I shall never 
feel absolutely sure that he did not one day 
pay usa visit. J mention the circumstance 
for what it may be worth, and because, what- 
ever its import, it was at least a lively spec- 
tacle. It occurred upon this wise: On the 
19th of July, the day when the first of the 
young birds bade good-by to its cradle, I 
had gone into the house, leaving my fellow- 
observer in the orchard, with a charge to 
call me if anything noteworthy should hap- 
pen. I was hardly seated before he whistled 
loudly, and I hastened out again. Another 
hummer had been there, he said, and the 
mother had been chasing him (or her) about 
in a frantic manner; and even while we were 
1 These two humming-bird papers were printed in 
consecutive numbers of The Atlantic Monthly, June and 
July, 1891. 
