294 CITIZEN BIRD 



at that small slant ways branch, with the little bunch 

 on it : "' 



'' The little round bunch that looks like soft green 

 moss ? " 



'' Yes. Well, that's the Hummer's nest I " 



" Oh I oh ! " cried Dodo, forgetting to whisper, " I see 

 a mite of a tail and a sharp needle beak sticking over 

 the edge ! " 



This was too much for ^Irs. Hummer, who flew off 

 with a whirr like an angry little spinning-wheel — if 

 such a proper Puritan thing is ever angry ; and there 

 in the nest were two tiny eggs, like white beans. 



" Come back by the fence and watch," said Joe. " She 

 doesn't like to leave the nest much when it is toward 

 night." 



"• It's a pity her mate is dead. How lonely she must 

 be ! " said Dodo, who had a tender little heart. 



" I do not think her mate is dead," said the Doctor; 

 " he is merely staying away, after a custom of his fam- 

 ily. The bird whose nest we see there is called the 

 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, because he has a patch of 

 glittering ruby-red feathers under his chin, at the top 

 of his buttoned-up vest that hardly shows any white 

 shirt-front. He Avears a beautiful golden-green dress- 

 coat, with its dark purplish tails deeply forked. His 

 wife looks very much like him, only she has no ruby 

 jewels to wear. 



" Bold as this bird is in darting about and chasing 

 larger ones, he is less than four inches long — only 

 about the size of one of the hawk-moths that come out 

 to feed, just as this valiant pygmy lancer leaves the 

 flowers for the night. 



