460 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



any attention to them after finding the sirup. Ten minutes later 

 she drank deeply from the bottle and was seen no more that day. 



In this way began the feeding of the ruby-throated humming 

 birds, which has been continued each summer since 1907 with a vary- 

 ing number of birds. The first season it appeared that but a single 

 bird found the bottled sweets. Perhaps it was the same bird that 

 came the following summer, and was not joined by a second hum- 

 ming bird until the latter part of August. In 1909 the number was 

 gradually augmented until seven of these birds were present to- 

 gether. The following year there were days when again seven came 

 at one time; since then four has been the largest number seen to- 

 gether. 



The days and weeks are calm and quiet ones when a single bird 

 has the bottles to herself. More or less fighting ensues as soon as 

 another bird comes on the scene, and the tumult of battle increases 

 with each new arrival until tlie presence of six or seven of these tiny 

 belligerents makes the front yard appear like the staging of a ballet. 

 With clashing sounds and continuous squeaking cries they chase each 

 other about, often swinging back and forth in an arc of a circle with 

 a sort of pendulum-like motion. Sometimes they clinch and fall to 

 the earth, where the struggle is continued for many seconds. So 

 jealous are they lest others share the sirup that they seem more 

 anxious to fight than to drink. Wlien seven are present they are very 

 difficult to count, and appear to be threefold that number. We 

 have read accounts of 40 or 100 humming birds hovering about a 

 tree or bush. Clearly these numbers must have been estimates, prob- 

 ably large ones, too, anyone must believe who has made sure that 

 only seven birds have created the maze of wonderful and beautiful 

 motion in which there seemed to be a dozen or a score of participants. 



The number of bottles in use has been sufficient on most days to 

 satisfy the needs of all the humming birds present. Each new bottle 

 has been added by way of an experiment. The first one was placed 

 in an artificial flower painted to imitate a nasturtium, mainly yellow 

 in color; the second flower in form and color closely resembled a 

 tiger lily. The experiment with the yellow and the red flowers was 

 to test a supposedly erroneous theory which had been published to 

 the effect that humming birds show a preference for red flowers. In 

 further proof of the fallacy of this statement the third flower, shaped 

 like the nasturtium, was painted gi*een, and was placed in a bed of 

 green jDlants which at that time bore no blossoms. It was pronounced 

 by other people to be " exactly the color of the surrounding foliage." 

 It was staked out and filled on August 6, 1909, when no humming 

 bird was in sight, but in about 10 minutes some of the species had 

 come, and 15 minutes later one was drinking from the bottle in this 

 green flower. 



