212 LIFE HISTOKIES OF XOKTU AMEUICAN BIRDS. 



and go to Avater at daylight, uo matter liow cold the weather is. During the 

 month of August, and jjarticiilarly the first half of the month, when the morn- 

 ings were often frosty, hundreds of them came to the spring to drink and bathe 

 at break of day. They were like a swarm of bees, buzzing j|,bout one's head 

 and darting to and fro in every direction. The air was full of them. They 

 would drop down to the water, dip their feet and bellies, and rise and shoot 

 away as if propelled by an unseen power. They would often dart at tlie face 

 of an intruder as if bent on piercing the eye with their needle-like bill, and 

 then poise for a moment almost within reach before turning, when they were 

 again lost in tlie busy throng. Whether this act was prompted by curiosity or 

 resentment 1 was not alile to ascertain. Several were seen at the summit of the 

 mountain during the latter part of August. They Avere found also at the Grand 

 Canyon of the Colorado Septendjer 12 to 15. They began to leave the moun- 

 tain during the first week in September, and none were seen after the middle of 

 the month." 



The flowers of the Scroplmlaria, OcotiUa, Agave amerkana, and numerous 

 others, have great attractions for them owing to the cpiantities of small insects 

 which they harbor. In the more southern portions of their range nidification 

 commences late in April or tlie beginning of May, but most of these early sets are 

 "•enerallv overlooked, while the second sets nre ususilh- laid about the first two 

 weeks in June, and nesting continues throughout July in portions of their range. 

 Mr. Robert Ridgwa}' obtained two nests of this species with eggs in Parley's 

 Park, Utah, on July 23, 1869; they were placed in willows growing beside a 

 stream. 



Nests from diff'erent localities vary considerably in make-up as well as in 

 size. Nests saddled on good-sized limbs, like those often found in the moun- 

 tains of Colorado, are occasionally almost as large again as others placed on 

 small twigs. One now before me. from the Ralph collection, taken by Mr. 

 William G. Smith, at Pinewood, Colorado, on June 23, 1892, measures 2 niches 

 in outer diameter by 1§ inches in depth, while one taken by Mr. Ridgway, in 

 Parley's Park, Utah, on July 23, 1869, measures only 1| by 1 inch outside 

 measurement. The difference in size of the inner cups of these two nests is even 

 more noticeable, the foi-mer measuring 1 inch by three-fourths of an inch, the 

 latter three-fourths by one-half of an inch. While the walls of both of these 

 nests are mainly composed of willow or cottonwood down, their outer covering 

 is entirely dissimilar. The outside of the larger one is profusely covered with 

 small l)its of lichens, like the nest of the Ruby-throat; the smaller one is deco- 

 rated with shreds of bark, fine leaves, and dry plant fibers, resembling more 

 the nests of Costa's Hunnningbird in this respect. Tlie radical difference in the 

 appearance of the nests is far greater than my simple description would indicate, 

 and the s])ecimens themselves nmst be seen to have tliis ditt'erence fully appre- 

 ciated. There is no doubt whatever of the correct identification of l)Oth, Init 

 their nests evidently vary greatl}- in difterent loi-alities, and while frequently 

 one can form a pretty good guess as to wluit species certain Hummingbirds' 



