THE CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD. — 4103 
pursued when the cat or a snooping 
chipmunk is the object of attention, 
but the change in temper is unmis- 
takable. I do not feel sure that the 
spitfire will strike an enemy, but the 
sudden explosions of winged fury 
hard about the ears are quite suffici- 
ent to put a prowler in a panic. 
The secret of nest-finding in the 
case of Hummingbirds lies in the 
tell-tale wing-buzz of the female as 
she quits her nest. In this way, on 
the 17th of June, 1906, we found 
the first Washington nest of the 
Calliope, in the dense greenery of 
La Chapelle’s Springs, on the 
Columbia River, near Chelan Falls. 
The nest was saddled on a slender 
descending branch of a red_ birch 
tree, at a point seven feet out from 
the trunk and twelve feet from the 
ground. It was overshadowed by a 
little canopy of leaves, and was held 
in place not only by its lashings of 
cobwebs, but by a drooping filament 
from a loftier branch. 
In eastern Oregon Bendire found 
these birds nesting extensively in 
the pine trees. The nests were usu- 
ally settled upon a cluster of pine 
+ 
& 
& 
Ei 
Taken in Spokane. Photo by F. S. Merrill. 
A NEARER VIEW. 
cones, and so closely simulated their surroundings that detection would have 
been impossible save for the visits of their owners. Ridgway figures? a four- 
story nest taken at Baird, California, 
of successive seasons. 
and believed to represent the occupation 
a. The Hummingbirds (Rep. Nat. Mus., 1890, pp. 253-383, plate I). 
