XII. 



HUMMERS. 



California is the land of flowers and hum- 

 mingbirds. Hummingbirds are there the winged 

 companions of the flowers. In the valleys the 

 airy birds hover about the filmy golden mustard 

 and the sweet-scented primroses ; on the blooming 

 hillsides in spring the air is filled with whirring 

 wings and piping voices, as the fairy troops pass 

 and repass at their mad gambols. At one mo- 

 ment the birds are circling methodically around 

 the whorls of the blue sage ; at the next, hurtling 

 through the air after a distant companion. The 

 great wild gooseberry bushes with red fuchsia- 

 like flowers are like bee-hives, swarming with 

 noisy hummers. The whizzing and whirring 

 lead one to the bushes from a distance, and on 

 approaching one is met by the brown spindle- 

 like birds, darting out from the blooming shrubs, 

 gleams of green, gold, and scarlet glancing from 

 their gorgets. 



The large brown hummers probably stop in the 

 valley only on their way north, but the little 

 black-chinned ones make their home there, and 

 the big spreading sycamores and the great live- 



