A PRETTY HUMMER 109 



passages through the bushes and trees. When four or 

 five of them were found in one place, they would fairly 

 thread the air with green and purple as they described 

 their circles and loops and festoons with a rapidity that 

 fairly made my head whirl. At one place several of 

 them grew very bold, dashing at me or wheeling around 

 my head, coming so close that I could hear the susurrus 

 of their wings as well as the sharp, challenging buzz 

 from their throats. 



Perhaps it would interest you to know where the 

 rambler found these tiny hummers. They were never 

 in the dark canons and gorges, nor in the ravines that 

 were heavily wooded with pine, but in the open, sun- 

 shiny glades and valleys, where there were green grass 

 and bright flowers. In the upper part of both' North 

 and South Cheyenne Canons they were plentiful, al- 

 though they avoided the most scenic parts of these 

 wonderful mountain gorges. Another place where 

 they found a pleasant summer home was in a green 

 pocket of the mountain above Red Cliff, a village on 

 the western side of the great range. On descending 

 the mountains to the town of Glenwood, I did not find 

 them, and therefore am disposed to think that in the 

 breeding season they do not choose to dwell in too low 

 or too high an altitude, but seek suitable places at an 

 elevation of from seven thousand to nine thousand 

 feet. 



