62 THE CLERK OF THE WOODS 



Into the flower he would dart, stay a longer 

 or shorter time, as he found occasion, and 

 then like a flash draw out and back away, 

 his wings all the while beating themselves to 

 a film of light. I wonder if any other of 

 our common hovering birds the kingbird, 

 for example, or the kingfisher can match 

 the hummer in this regard. 



A second thing that interested me was his 

 choice of blossoms. My neighbor's canna 

 bed is made up in about equal parts of two 

 kinds of plants, one with red blossoms, the 

 other with yellow. The hummer went to 

 the red flowers only. He must have probed 

 a hundred, I should say. As for the yellow 

 ones, he seemed not to know they were there. 

 Now, was not this a plain case of color pre- 

 ference? It looked so, surely; but I re- 

 membered that hummingbirds are persistent 

 haunters of the yellow blossoms of the jewel- 

 weed, and concluded that something besides 

 a difference of color must account for what 

 appeared to be this fellow's well-considered 

 line of conduct. It is hard work, but as far 

 as possible, let us abstain from hasty gener- 

 alizations. 



