A HERMIT'S WILD FRIENDS 



feed. Also that the birds were after the soft 

 bark, or cambium layer, for food. 



While the woodpeckers do catch a fly now 

 and then, it is evident, even to a careless ob- 

 server, that it is the sap that is sought. I 

 have seen them eat small pieces of the cambium 

 layer, but I think they did so because the soft 

 bark was soaked with sweet sap. 



The three humming-birds made that little 

 sunny glade in the forest as lively as a Mex- 

 ican fandango. The two males were jealous 

 of each other, and both birds seemed desper- 

 ately in love with the demure maid. She 

 attended strictly to business by drinking from 

 the sap-buckets left unguarded by the red 

 squirrel. The male hummers spent most of 

 the time dancing in the air. They took turns 

 in madly pursuing each other; the pursued 

 never turned tail, but flew backward with a 

 swiftness that was marvellous. The buzzing 

 of their wings and their shrill cries furnished 

 the music for the wild dance. 



The humming-birds drink from the drills 

 while poised in the air, but often alight and 

 198 



