176 WESTERN SERIES OF READERS. 



nothing but nectar from flowers; but it is well 

 known now that humming-birds cannot live on 

 nectar alone. They must have insect-food. Gar- 

 den spiders, too small for other people to catch 

 sight of, are their special favorites. Little gnats 

 that dance about in the air, and which you can- 

 not see unless you stand in exactly the right 

 light, are hummer's supper. 



If you make yourself known to the mother in 

 quiet ways, never stirring about quickly where 

 she is nesting, she will give you all her secrets. 

 It will pay you to watch, an hour at a time, with- 

 out speaking to any one. You will notice that as 

 soon as the nest is about as deep as a blue-gum 

 blossom cover, or an acorn saucer, the first egg 

 will belaid; next morning, another, and these 

 two are the proper number of eggs for any hum- 

 mer. Never any more. As she sits, you will see 

 the mother fly away to the hedges, often in the 

 warm hours of the day, and bring back web and 

 lichens. With these she builds the nest higher 

 and larger around the eggs until it is the right 

 size. In ten days you will see the young are 

 hatched in the nest by the way the mother stands 

 up and arranges something beneath her breast, 

 gently, with her beak. Do not be in haste to 

 look, but wait until she leaves it for a minute. 



