is rapid, that of this species is unusually 

 so. During the breeding season, or at 

 least while mating, the flight of the male 

 is accompanied by a loud metallic noise. 

 This is only heard when the bird is rap- 

 idly flying and not when it is hovering 

 over flowers. Mr. Henshaw . suggests 

 that this sound may be "analagous to the 

 love notes of other birds." Though he 

 saw "many o^ these birds in the fall, it 

 was only very rarely that this whistling 

 note was heard, and then only with great- 

 ly diminished force." He believed that 

 the sound was produced at the will of the 

 bird and by means of some peculiar at- 

 tenuation of the outer primary wing 

 feather. The nesting places of many of 

 the hummingbirds, as well as that of the 

 Broad-tail, may frequently be located by 

 the peculiar perpendicular flight of the 

 male. They will frequently fly as high 

 as one hundred feet immediately above 

 the vicinity of the nest, repeating the per- 

 formance several times before alighting 

 on some perch. The female is a faithful 



mother and will often remain on her nest 

 until an intruder is within a few inches. 

 The nest, though sometimes placed on 

 large branches, is usually built but a few 

 feet from the ground in low bushes or 

 boughs that overhang water. 



In their migrations southward the 

 Broad-tailed Hummingbird is frequently 

 found in company with the sufous-backed 

 species, for which it shows an especial 

 animosity. Speaking of these tw^o spe- 

 cies, Mr. Henshaw says : "The beds of 

 bright flowers about Willow Spring, in 

 the White Mountains, Arizona, were 

 alive with them in August, and as they 

 moved swiftly to and fro, now surfeiting 

 themselves on the sweets they here found 

 so abundant, now fighting with each 

 other for possession of some such tempt- 

 ing prize, as a cluster of flowers, their 

 rapid motions and the beauty of their 

 colors intensified by the bright sunlight, 

 conspired to an effect not soon to be for- 

 gotten." 



A BIRD THAT HUNG HIMSELF. 



Near the gate of our garden Stands a 

 small apricot tree which is only about 

 six feet in height. Last year a long 

 twine string became entangled in this 

 tree. One day when T went to the gar- 

 den I noticed a blackbird hanging in this 

 string, about two feet from the ground. 

 On examination I found that the string 

 was closely wrapped about his neck sev- 

 eral times, and that he had been choked 

 to death by it. He had evidently tried 

 to secure the string for his nest, and prob- 

 ably had several times started to fly away 



with it, only to find that the other end 

 of it was fast. 



There are usually high winds in Kan- 

 sas during the Spring months, and these 

 may have helped to entangle the unfor- 

 tunate bird. It is certain that in some 

 manner he had snared himself, and in 

 attempting to fly had jerked the cord 

 tight about his neck. There he hung, a 

 martyr to his own energy and ambition ; 

 and somewhere his mate mourned for the 

 partner who had gone from her never to 

 return. Mary McCrae Culter. 



65 



