VI. 



THE " BIRD OF THE MUSICAL WING." 



MR. BRADFORD TORREY has started an in- 

 quiry into the conduct of the ruby-throated 

 hummingbird, who is said, contrary to the hab- 

 its of the feathered world in general, to absent 

 himself from his family during the time that his 

 mate is brooding and rearing the young. The 

 question of interest to settle is his motive in 

 so doing. Does he consider his brilliant ruby 

 dangerous to the safety of the nest, and so 

 deny himself the pleasure as well as the pain of 

 family life ? Does he selfishly desert outright, 

 and return to bachelor ways, when his mate 

 settles herself to her domestic duties ? Or does 

 the pugnacious little creature herself decline 

 not only his advice and counsel, but even his 

 presence ? 



This problem in the life of the bird has lent 

 new interest to its study, and I was greatly 

 pleased, last summer, when the bursting into 

 bloom of a trumpet creeper, which clad with 

 beauty the branches of an old locust-tree, at- 

 tracted to the door of my temporary home this 



