138 THE MALE RUBY-THROAT. 



nine, after watching each a short time, prob- 

 ably not more than an hour or two in any 

 case. Of the remaining three, I visited one 

 three or four times at various hours of the 

 day, another only twice, the third but once. 

 Two of the three contained young when 

 found. The third was supposed to have 

 young, also, but could not be examined with- 

 out danger to its contents. I have never 

 seen a male hummer anywhere near a nest, 

 either before or after the eggs were laid, 

 but, us you will gather from the above brief 

 data, my experience has not been extensive ; 

 and in the old days, when most of my nests 

 were found, the methods of close watch- 

 ing now in vogue were unthought of. In 

 the light of the testimony to which you re- 

 fer, I should conclude, with you, that the 

 male hummer must occasionally assist in 

 the care of the young, but I am very sure 

 that this is not usually, if indeed often, the 

 case." 



Mr. H. W. Henshaw reported a similar 

 experience. He had found four nests of the 

 ruby-throat, but had seen no male about any 

 of them after nidification was begun. "I 

 confess," he says, "that I had never thought 



