THE CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD. 



403 



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 

 si)itfire will strike an enemy, hut 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 



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, and believed to represent the occupation 

 of successive seasons. 



Taken in Sf'okii 



r. Photo by F. 



A .NE.VRUR \ IKW. 



a. The Hummii 



rds (Rep. Nat. Mus., 



pp. 253-383. pla'e I). 



