Ruby-throated Hummingbird 183 



tiinate the house where a colony elect to live, 

 for they rid the air of myriads of gnats and 

 mosquitoes, as they fly r.bout overhead, sil- 

 houetted against the sky. Early in the morning 

 and late in the afternoon are their hours for 

 exercise. You will think, perhaps, that they 

 look more like bats than birds. Watch their 

 rapid wing-beats very closely and see if you can 

 settle the mooted question as to whether they 

 use both wings at once, or first one wing and 

 then the other in alternate strokes. After you 

 have noticed tlieir peculiar, throbbing flight, 

 you will never again confuse them with the 

 graceful, gliding swallows. Although the swift 

 is actually shorter than a sparrow, its spread 

 wings measure over a foot across from tip to 

 tip. No wonder it can fly every waking mo- 

 ment without feeling tired, and journey from 

 Labrador to Central America for a winter 

 holiday. 



RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD 



What child does not know the hummingbird, 

 the jewelled midget that flashes through the 

 garden, poises before a flower as if suspended 

 in the air by magic, thrusts a needle-like bill into 

 one cup of nectar after another, then whirs 

 off out of sight in a trice? It is the smallest 



