SELASPITOIIUS PLATYCEIIC'US. /3(;i 



tlie nortlicni contiiuiiition of the same ranj^o (the East TTumholdt M(.init- 

 alns), whih) on the Wulisatcli and Uintahs it was found still more ahmi- 

 dantl\- throughout the summer in company with TrorhUti.'i alexamhi. 'riic 

 distribution of IIumming--bii-ds being governed by the presence or aljsc-nce 

 of tracts where a profusion of flowers flourish, tliis species is consequently 

 mainly confined to the higher slopes of the mountains ; but whenever a 

 portion of tlie lower valleys is made to bloom by irrigation, this llinniner 

 soon finds it out and at once appears. Under such circumstances its vertical 

 range is very great, amounting, in one instance wliich came under our 

 observation, to fully C,000 feet; for one morning we killed a specimen near 

 the ranche in Ruby Valley, and later during the same day, when we had 

 ascended to the summit of one of the highest peaks, which towered to 

 nearly 12,000 feet, a single individual buzzed past us. 



The flight of this Humming-bird is unusually rapid, and that of the male 

 is accompanied by a curious screeching buzz, while it is followed throufHi 

 an undulating course. Long before the author of this curious sound was 

 detected its source was a mystery to us. This shrill screeching note is 

 heard only when the bird is passing rapidly through the air, for ^\•IR'n hov- 

 ering among the flowers its flight is accompanied by only the usual nuiflled 

 hum common to all the species of the family. During the nesting-season 

 the male is of an exceedingly quarrelsome disposition, and intrepitl, jiroba- 

 bly beyond any other bird, the Flycatchers not e-xcepted. All birds that 

 approach the vicinity of his nest, whether they be his own species or of the 

 size of hawks, ai'e immediately assaulted with great force and pertinacity by 

 this seemingly insignificant little creature, the vigor of whose attacks, accom- 

 panied as they are by the shrill i)iercing noise we have mentioned, invarial)ly 

 puts to flight any bird assaulted. We have thus seen the Western Kingbird 

 ( Ti/rinniKS i-crticaUs), the Black-headed Grosbeak {Uedymclcs melaiioccpli(tliis), 

 and the Sharp-shinned Hawk {Xisus fascus) beat a hasty retreat before 

 the persevering assaults of this Humming-bird. When thus teasing an 

 intruder the little champion asceuds almost perpendicularly to a consid- 

 eralde height, and thi u descends with the (piickness of a flash at the object 

 he Wdulil annoy, wliicli is probably more frightc-ncil by the accdinpauy- 

 ing noise than by the mere attack itself As we chanced, while hunting 

 ;3(! r It 



