BIRDS OF THE AIR. 261 



Blue-throated Humming-Bird, the diminutive Mexican 

 Star has settled on the long beak of the former, and re- 

 mained perched on it some minutes without its offering 

 to resist the insult." Some of the species are so small 

 that if they flew by night they might be swallowed alive 

 by one of the smaller Owls as easily as a beetle. 



The Humming-Bird was formerly supposed to feed 

 entirely on the nectar of the flowers it was seen so con- 

 stantly to visit. It is now well ascertained that its chief 

 subsistence is made up of small insects which it takes 

 from the flower. But the ancient opinion was not en- 

 tirely a fallacy, since a portion of the nectar of the flower 

 is taken with the insects, and supplies to the Humming- 

 Bird that kind of nourishment which the larger insec- 

 tivorous birds derive from fruit. Dr. Brewer says " the 

 young birds feed by putting their own bills down the 

 throats of their parents, sucking probably a prepared 

 sustenance of nectar and fragments of insects." The 

 bird uses his tongue both for capturing insects and for 

 sucking the drops of dew and nectarine juices contained 

 in the flower. 



Notwithstanding the small size of the whole tribe of 

 Humming-Birds, they are notoriously the most courageous 

 and combative birds in existence. Their sharp bills, their 

 rapid flight, the electric quickness of their manoeuvres, 

 render them so dangerous that no bird wdiom parties of 

 them choose to attack can escape unharmed. 



I once discovered a nest of the Humming-Bird in my 

 own garden, upon the horizontal bough of an old apple- 

 tree. It was placed near the end of the bough, about 

 five feet from the ground. It was built, as all writers 

 have described other nests of Humming-Birds, of ferns 

 and mosses, with lichens glued together, jierhaj^s from 

 being collected while tliey were damp. It contained two 

 eggs about the size of a pea-bean. 



