THE MALE RUBY-THROAT. 137 



I wrote first to Mr. E. S. Hoar, in whose 

 garden Mr. Brewster had made the observa- 

 tions cited in my previous article. He re- 

 plied with great kindness, and upon the point 

 in question said : " I watched the nest two or 

 three times a day, from a time before the 

 young were hatched till they departed ; and 

 now you mention it> it occurs to me that I 

 never did see the male, but only the white- 

 breasted female." 



Next I sought the testimony of profes- 

 sional ornithologists; and here my <worst 

 suspicions seemed in a fair way to be con- 

 firmed, although the greater number of my 

 correspondents were unhappily compelled to 

 plead a want of knowledge. Dr. A. K. 

 Fisher had found, as he believed, not less 

 than twenty-five nests, and to the best of 

 his recollection had never seen a male bird 

 near one of them after it was completed. 

 He had watched the female feeding her 

 young, and, when the nests contained eggs, 

 had waited for hours on purpose to secure 

 the male, but always without result. 



Mr. William Brewster wrote: "I have 

 found, or seen in situ, twelve hummers' 

 nests, all in Massachusetts. Of these I took 



