BIRDS OF THE CAMBRIDGE REGION. 221 



Still abound, the Swifts continue to reappear every season in nearly if not quite 

 their former numbers .^ During rainy or lowering weather they congregate over 

 our ponds and meadows to feed in company with the Swallows. Many years 

 ago the boys living near Fresh Pond were accustomed to indulge in a curious 

 practice which I have often witnessed. Arming themselves with long, thickly 

 branched stems of bushes, from which the leaves had been stripped, they would 

 form in line along the crest of a ridge, and strike at the Swallows and Swifts 

 skimming low over the turf on their way to or from the pond. A few Swifts 

 frequently fell victims to this wanton sport, but the more alert and observing 

 Swallows invariably dodged the switches and ran the gauntlet in safety. 



In view of the fact that Chimney Swifts breed abundantly throughout north- 

 ern New England, one would expect to see large flights of them passing and 

 repassing over eastern Massachusetts ; but my experience has been that unmis- 

 takable migratory movements of this kind are seldom noted here, although the 

 birds are usually more numerous in early May and again in late August than at 

 any time during the intervening period. 



ii6. Trochilus colubris Linn. 



RUBV-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. HUMMINGBIRD. HUiMMER. RUBV-THROAT. 



Very common transient visitor during migration and uncommon summer resident. 



SEASONAL OCCURRENCE. 



May I, 1 89 1, one male seen, Le-xington, W. Faxon. 



May 10 — September 20. 

 October 2, 1882, one seen, Cambridge, W. Brewster. 



NESTING DATES. 



May 24 — June 5. 



Hummingbirds are often common in our neighborhood for a week or two 

 after their arrival from the south in early May, when they frequent places where 

 the Japan quince and the cultivated cherry are in bloom. Before the end of the 

 month most of them pass still further north, only a very few remaining to breed. 



' This passage, written several years ago, must now be modified, for the Swifts, like the Night- 

 hawks and Swallows, were seriously reduced in numbers, throughout eastern Massachusetts, during 

 the cold, rainy weather of June, 1903, and the losses which they suffered that season have not as yet 

 been made good. 



