466 ANNUAL KEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1913. 



in his book on humming birds. It is from Philosophical Transac- 

 tions, 1693, by Nehemiah Grew, who wrote: "I did weigh one (in 

 those parts) as soon as ever it was killed whose weight was the tenth 

 part of an ounce avoirdupois." From these weights one makes the 

 deduction that our humming birds are accustomed to eat of sugar 

 twice their own weight daily. If human adults ate of sugar propor- 

 tional amounts there would be required nearly 300 pounds of this 

 saccharine food daily for the average person. 



No attempt has been made to tame the birds that came to drink, 

 yet one, perhaps two of them, became bold enough to drink when a 

 bottle was being filled ; while she thrust her bill into the empty re- 

 ceptacle a spoonful of sirup was frequently held touching the mouth 

 of the bottle, but she did not learn to drink from the spoon. While 

 drinking the tongue was extended about a quarter of an inch beyond 

 the tip of the bill, and tw^o or three drops Avere sipped before the bill 

 was withdrawn. Once 15 drops were taken with three insertions of 

 the bill, and at another time the bird drank without the withdrawal 

 of her bill for about the duration of a minute. At such times the 

 bottle was free from ants; probably they were present when the 

 drinking was done with numerous sips. Often a bird preferred to 

 take her breakfast in courses, perching on a near-by dead twig for a 

 minute or two between drinks. 



During two of the seasons it was thought that some of the birds 

 roosted on our place, appearing as they did very early, and making 

 a long day for feasting and fighting. In other years the birds were 

 seen to fly eastward at night and their morning arrivals Avere not so 

 early. One June morning a bird was ready for her breakfast at 4 

 o'clock, and took her last drink at night just before the clock struck 

 8. On some August days there are records of their presence at break 

 of day ; in one case it was 38 minutes before sunrise. They usually 

 lingered a short time after sundown, drinking long and deeply before 

 taking their evening departure. 



The conviction that the same birds were returning to us summer 

 after summer began to be felt at the beginning of the fourth season. 

 On May 26 of that year the first humming bird appeared on the place. 

 The next day the flowerless bottle No. 4 was put out, and in a few 

 hours a bird was drinking from it. For the next three weeks she 

 was seen drinking from this bottle on every day except two, but not 

 in the middle of the day ; then for two weeks she was missed, return- 

 ing again on the 1st of July. 



The history of the fifth season was similar. Humming birds hav- 

 ing been seen on May 22 bottle No. 4 was staked out and filled for a 

 few days. No bird coming to drink, the bottle filling had been dis- 

 continued, when on June 6 a humming bird on suspending wings was 

 Been searching this bottle. Not finding sirup in it she flew to the 



