RUBYTHROAT 189 



Rubythroat should select this particular corner of the 

 yard for their home. They lived there for several years 

 and may be living there yet for all I know. They cer- 

 tainly were when I left the old home. 



Now Mr. and Mrs. Rubythroat were humming birds. 

 Humming birds belong to the Trochilidae family and are 

 easy to recognize, first, because some of them are the small- 

 est of birds; second, because they are mostly brilliantly 

 colored ; and, last but not least, because they vibrate their 

 wings so rapidly that they make a humming sound, a 

 thing that no other bird does. All humming birds are 

 American, but most of them live in tropical America. In 

 the West Indies there are many kinds, but one needs to go 

 to the Amazon basin and to the Andes Mountains to find 

 them in all their glory. Some of these are scarcely larger 

 than bumblebees, while the largest are almost as large as 

 a sparrow. Some of them have very beautiful crests and 

 others long brilliantly colored tails. In spite of these 

 differences they are much alike, and no one who has ever 

 seen one kind would fail to recognize any other as a hum- 

 ming bird, tho he might not know what particular kind 

 it was. East of the Rocky Mountains and north of Texas 

 we never see any humming bird but the rubythroat. He 

 is a beautiful peacock green above with a sheen of gold 

 and bronze when the sunlight flashes on him. His throat 

 is ruby red, hence his name. 



Notwithstanding that he is so small, the humming bird 

 is a bold, active bird, and at least one kind nests during 

 the short summer season in the southern part of Alaska. 

 In California, New Mexico, and Arizona there are about 

 fourteen different kinds to be found; but as Mr. Ruby- 

 throat is found over more territory than any of the others 



