THE EUBY-THEOATBD HUMMINGBIED. 193 



blossdiii. and it usually goes south again about the latter part of September, 

 the males })reee(ling the females, I believe, iu Ixith migrations. Its In'eeding 

 range is coextensive with its geographical distribution. Along the Atlantic 

 coast it has been met Avith by Mr. Lucien M. 'i'urner as far north as Davis 

 Inlet, Labrador, in latitude 55° 37', but this niay have been only a casual 

 straggler, as few Ijirds of this species appear to breed north of latitude 52°. 

 In the interior, in the so-called fur countries, it reaches farther north, however. 

 Sir John Ricliardson met it here u]) to tlie fifty-seventh parallel, which appears 

 to be the nortliernmost known limits of its range; but it is quite possible that 

 it reaches still higher latitudes. None of the numerous gentlemen connected 

 with tlie Hudson Bay Company, interested in ornithological investigations 

 in the far north, appear to have met with it in the lower Mackenzie basin or 

 along the shores of (Ireat Slave Lake. Westward its range extends well into 

 the eastern borders of the Great Plains; it is a fairly common sunnner resident 

 here in suitable localities, in eastern Saskatchewan, and iu Manitoba, as well as 

 throughout the eastern parts of North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, 

 the Indian Territory, and about the eastern half of Texas. In many parts of 

 Florida it seems to be a rather rare breeder, but north of this State it is mostly 

 a common sunnner resident. 



The Ruby-throated Hummingbird prefers rather open and cultivated country, 

 interspersed here and there with mixed or deciduous woods overrun with 

 tlo\\ering masses of vines and cree})ers, extensive orchards, etc., and it is not at 

 all adverse to taking up its home iu flower gardens, in close proximitv to man. 

 Its flight is extremely swift, and the rapid motions of its wings in pas.sing back 

 and forth from one cluster of flowers to another causes a hunnnini;- or buzziiiff 

 sound, from which the inimerous members of this family derive their name of 

 Hummingbirds. Notwithstanding the very small size of most of our Hummers, 

 the}' are all extremely pugnacious, especially tlie males, and are constsmtly quar- 

 reling and chasing each other, as well as other birds, some of which ai-e many 

 times larger than themselves. Mr. Manly Hardy writes me that he once saw a 

 male Ruby-throat chasing a Robin out of his garden and following it up until 

 lost to sight. 



There appears to be considerable dift'erence of opinion among various 

 observers regai'ding the nature of their food, some contending that this consists 

 principally of nectar sipped from flowers, as well as the sweet sap of certain 

 trees, to which they help themselves at the drinking places of the Yellow-bellied 

 Sapsucker, Splujrapkus varius, while others, myself included, believe that they 

 subsist mainly on minute insects and small spiders, the latter forming quite an 

 important article of food witli them. Mr. Edwin H. Eames, of Bridgeport, Con- 

 necticut, mentions finding sixteen young spiders of uniform size iu the thi-oat of 

 a young Hummingbird which was about two days old.^ 



•The Auk, Vol. VII, 1890, pp. 286-288. I also refer the reader to Mr. Frederick A. Lucas's interest- 

 ing paper in the same periodical (Vol. X, 1893, pp. 311-315), and to another by tlie same author, "Ou the 

 structure of the tongue in Hnnuningbinls," iu the "Proceedings of tlie United States National Mnseinn" 

 (Vol. XIV, 1891, pp. 1G9-172), all of which bear on this subject, but waut of space prevents me from iiuoting 

 them. 



10896— No. 3 13 



