AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 195 



ONE SUMMER WITH A FAIRY HOUSEKEEPER.. 



Amid the noble trees and green hills of a beautiful country village not a 

 thousand miles from Cromwell, Conn., stands one of the charming homes 

 which dot the New England hills. In the orchard at one side may be 

 seen the homes of many of the feathered tribe, the chattering wren, king 

 birds, pewees, the swaying hammock of the oriole, the mud hut of the 

 robin and phoebe, while from the green fields across the way comes the 

 plaintive song of the meadow lark, and Boh-o-Linkum's jubilant, tinkling 

 notes. 



In the hollow trunk of one of the rows of maples which affords a leafy 

 screen by the roadside, a pair of flickers have made their home, and dur- 

 ing the warm summer days the mother bird might be seen sitting at her 

 circular doorway, with head and neck extended, and bill open as if pant- 

 ing for breath. But interesting as the examination of these homes might 

 be, it is not of them I wish to tell you, but of another little family which 

 held many formal receptions, and were greatly admired. 



In the early part of June a very tiny couple darted in and out among the 

 flowers and trees looking for the best place to begin housekeeping. They 

 finally selected the branch of a tall larch tree by the veranda about ten 

 feet from the ground as a home site, much to the delight of their friends, 

 who from behind the blinds but a few feet distant had the rare opportun- 

 ity of looking out directly upon the nest, and observing every detail of 

 their domestic affairs. 



The second week in June, Mrs. Hummingbird began her labors; adjacent 

 hill sides and valleys were searched for the softest fern wool and plant 

 down for lining a dainty cradle. Not until the interior was fitted up and 

 upholstered to her taste did Madame Hummer turn her attention to the 

 decoration of the outside walls. She would dart away, to return in a 

 short time, apparently bearing upon the feathers of her breast some sticky 

 substance with which to attach the mossy covering to the exterior walls 

 of her domicile. She would scrape her breast feathers with her slender 

 bill, and apply it to the outside of the nest, passing her bill round and 

 round the structure with lightning rapidity, and with machine like regular- 

 ity. Then away she would fly for bits of gray lichen which she quickly 

 put in place. Many of the gray shingles she obtained from the bark of a 

 magnolia tree close at hand. At last the dainty home was completed, 

 blending perfectly with the supporting branch of the larch, and no objec- 

 tions could be made by the most fastidious hummer couple. 



Then Mr. Humming Bird, who had hovered about and given his august 

 approval while Madame did the work, disappeared, and was seen but 

 once again about the habitation. The petit bride devoted herself to 



