HUMMING BIRD 



2871 



HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 



over six inches long. The largest is a native of 

 the South American Andes, which grows to be 

 eight and one-half inches in length. The long, 

 slender bills of these birds are especially 

 adapted for sucking the sweet nectar of such 

 flowers as the honeysuckle, the clematis, and the 

 deep-cupped trumpet-flower. The tongue, too, 

 is long, and is forked at the tip, constituting a 

 very efficient implement for procuring food. 



HUMMING BIRDS 



Honey is not their only fare, for insects within 

 the recesses of flowers are seized by them, and 

 sometimes they invade the web of the spider 

 and snatch away its prey. 



Ruby-throated Humming Bird. This, the 

 smallest and daintiest of the birds of the 

 United States, is the only one of the humming 

 bird family found east of the Mississippi River 

 and north of Florida. In winter it seeks the 

 warm regions from Florida to Central America, 

 but between May and October it may be found 

 from Northern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. 

 Less than four inches long, and clothed in a 

 brilliant coat of bright, metallic green, it well 

 deserves the characterization of James Whit- 

 comb Riley, in his South Wind and the Sun: 



And the humming bird that hung 

 Like a jewel up among 



The tilted honeysuckle horns. 



This beautiful creature seems indeed to be a 

 "winged jewel" as it hangs poised in midair 

 before a deep-throated flower, and the next 

 instant flashes out of sight, scarcely giving the 

 observer time to note the brilliant throat and 

 breast, which is metallic-red in one light, 

 orange-flame in another, and in still another a 

 dusky orange. Its tiny cradle, made of shreds 

 of bark, soft grass and bits of plant-down or 



cat-tail fluff, is no less exquisite than itself. 

 The mother bird prefers a situation high up in 

 the branches, and very often she covers the out- 

 side of the nest with lichens or bits of bark 

 that blend so harmoniously with the background 

 one hardly knows the little home is there. 

 During the nesting season the male bird as- 

 sumes an air of boldness, and he will fight 

 intruders with remarkable agility and fearless- 

 ness. R.D.M. 



HUMPERDINCK, hoom ' per dingk, ENGEL- 

 BERT (1854- ), a German composer best 

 known for his children's operas, or musical 

 fairy plays, Hansel und Gretel, The Snow 

 Maiden and The Royal Children. He was 

 born at Bonn, was an especial friend and pro- 

 tege of Wagner, and it was he who prepared 

 and coached the first cast of Wagner's Parsijal 

 at Bayreuth, in 1882. Humperdinck wrote 

 many songs, some chamber music and a few 

 choral works. His Moorish Rhapsody for the 

 orchestra embodies his impressions of Southern 

 Spain. He also has written incidental music to 

 several of Shakespeare's plays, including The 

 Merchant of Venice, A Winters Tale, The 

 Tempest and As You Like It. However, he is 

 most successful in his rendering of delicate 

 folklore and fairy themes. 



HUNDRED YEARS' WAR, a protracted 

 struggle between England and France, which 

 began in 1337 and ended in 1453. It lasted 

 during the reigns of five English kings, from 

 Edward III to Henry VI, and of five French 

 kings, from Philip VI to Charles VII. One of 

 its chief causes was Edward Ill's claim to the 

 French throne because his mother was a sister 

 of Charles IV of France. The Battle of Crecy, 

 fought in 1346, at which firearms were first 

 used, was the first important engagement, al- 

 though the war began nine years earlier. The 

 English gained a complete victory at Crecy, 

 and ten years later were victorious at Poitiers. 

 They lost ground, however, in spite of these 

 victories, and were driven from the country. 

 The English had practically no holdings in 

 France when Charles VI ascended the throne. 

 War broke out again in 1415, and France, 

 weakened by internal dissensions, could not suc- 

 cessfully repel its enemy, and in 1420 Henry V 

 compelled Charles VI, by the Treaty of Troyes, 

 to acknowledge him as his heir. In 1429, 

 spurred on by Joan of Arc, France gradually 

 forced the English to surrender their gains, and 

 at the end of the war Calais was the only 

 French territory held by the English. This was 

 not regained for a century. W.E.L. 



