for the little patient. I thrust the bird's 

 bill into the spoonful of diluted sweet- 

 ness and was glad to see the beak open 

 and a small quantity of the water dis- 

 appeared. In a short time the muscles 

 of the fairy frame began to gain 

 strength and soon the wings pressed 

 strongly against the palm of ray hand, 

 as I tried to prevent its escape. A little 

 child, who had remained with us, be- 

 seeched me te let her take the feathered 

 guest, and with her promise to not let it 

 fly away until we had examined it more 

 carefully, I parted with my treasure. 



Together we went into the next room, 

 where the pupils were yet studying from 

 books, and there our little visitor readily 

 partook of more refreshment from the 

 cup of sugared water. Hardly one of the 

 many children had ever before been so 

 near a living specimen of this fairly com- 

 mon species of American birds and not 

 one, including the teachers, had ever seen 

 one quietly drinking. 



"Is its bill a tube? Does it suck the 

 syrup through its tongue? Does it ever 

 eat anything but honey? Can it sing 

 something beside that squeak? These 

 and many other questions showed the 

 intense interest of the little unfeathered 

 bipeds about me, and for awhile it was 

 difficult to find an opportunity to give 

 answer. Perhaps you may make a sim- 

 ilar capture during the year and not be 

 ready for such a catechism and a repeti- 

 tion of some hummingbird truths may be 

 of interest here. 



The probe-like bill is not a tube, but it 

 is used as a protection and guide for the 

 long tongue, which moves so rapidly 

 that one can hardly discover its motion. 

 These birds do eat insects which haunt 

 the funnels of the trumpet flower, the 

 petunia blossoms, and other long-necked 

 repositories of plant nectar; and here 

 would be a chance to discourse upon the 

 difference between the bee-made honey 

 wrought from the plant supply and its 

 original form when in the flower. The 

 bird does not absorb' its liquid food after 

 the manner of the boy with a lemonade 

 straw, but drinks it, drop by drop, by 

 means of its long tongue. Its hard bill, 

 beside serving as a means of defense 

 more powerful than the awe-inspiring 

 hat pin of the school girl, also aids it in 



securing a change of diet in the shape 

 of tiny spiders which often infest plants, 

 and other insects which are desired 

 neither by the flower nor the gardener 

 or farmer. It thus pays for its sweet 

 repast of nectar and for its protection ; 

 for who has ever heard of the destruc- 

 tion of these morsels of bird-life in our 

 part of the country. 



It needed only a glance to tell that 

 this little wanderer from the world out- 

 side was either a female ruby-throat or 

 a male less than one year old. Does 

 some one ask "How did you know?" 



The method of determining is extreme- 

 ly simple, for there is only one species 

 east of the Rocky Mountains and Colo- 

 rado, and that is Trochilus colubris, or 

 the ruby-throated hummingbird, and it 

 is found from Labrador to Uruguay, ac- 

 cording to season. In the Northland 

 they are with us from May to October ; 

 the remaining months they spend in 

 travel and search of health in other 

 lands. 



Both sexes are wonderfully attractive 

 in the irri descent coloring, but to the 

 mature master belongs the blood-red 

 ruby at his throat, which gives him his 

 name. 



Beyond the barrier of the Rockies one 

 will discover many other varieties of 

 these dervishes of the air, who, if they 

 do not actually whirl, at least make as 

 many motions as the most devout of 

 whirligig devotees. 



Many persons have declared that they 

 have seen one species hovering over clo- 

 ver blossoms in the dusk of twilight or 

 in the evening hours. But the youngest 

 and the least expert of true, close observ- 

 ers will soon discover that this strange 

 nectar-seeker is a moth and not a bird. 



As to actual protection of the ruby- 

 throat by written lav/ I cannot say, but 

 unwritten^ ruling is in his favor here. 

 Beyond Mexico's northern boundary and 

 southward throughout the South Amer- 

 ican countries, which are his habitat dur- 

 ing his migration, he suffers violence 

 from the bird-hunters who supply the 

 wants of the milliners of all lands which 

 are civilized enough to have their women 

 wear hats. There has been a time when 

 a wreath of murdered ruby-throats about 

 the crown of an Easter creation of rib- 



