THE HUMMING FAMILY 145 
near it. Sometimes two of them will carry on a © 
quarrel over a honeysuckle vine for days. 
The hummingbird is the most pugnacious bird 
in America. If he were as big as a crow, he 
would be a terror to man and beast, for he is 
afraid of nothing. This spirited mite of a bird 
will even attack an eagle, who is big enough to 
eat him at a mouthful. He beats him too, for 
he comes down on top of his head, where the big, 
clumsy fellow cannot get at him. There he pecks 
and pulls out feathers till the eagle is glad to get 
out of his clutches. 
A hummingbird’s nest is one of the prettiest 
things in the world. It is not much bigger than 
a walnut, and is made of soft plant down, usually 
of a yellowish gray color. 
Perhaps you don’t see how plant down can be 
made to keep in shape, without twigs or grasses 
to hold it. If you could see the bird make it, 
you would understand at once. She brings her 
stuff in small mouthfuls, and works it into a 
solid mass by strong efforts with beak and feet. 
She pokes and prods each tiny bunch as she 
brings it, till she makes it all hold together. It 
is a sort of felt. 
Then the little worker covers the outside with 
bits of lichen picked off the trees, and held on, 
it is said, by cobwebs. This makes the nest look 
