NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



291 



able to fly. The other nest, taken June 4, 1893, contained one fresh egg which was 

 accidentally broken. 



427. BLUE-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. Cvligena clemencicp Less. Geog. 

 Dist. Southern Arizona and the tablelands of Mexico to Guerrero and Oaxaca. 



This is a slightly larger species than the Rivoli Hummingbird, and is sometimes 

 called "Blue-throated Casique." It is only a summer resident within the southern 

 boundary of the United States and breeds wherever found. It appears to be more 

 common than the preceding species. It was first added to our avifauna by Mr. F. 

 Stephens, who secured an adult male in the Santa Catalina Mountains, Arizona, 

 May 14, 1884. Since then it has been taken in several other mountain ranges of 

 Arizona, and Dr. Edgar E. Mearns took it in the Luis Mountains of Southwestern. 

 New Mexico. Mr. Nelson on September 9th, 1893, found a nest containing two eggs at 

 an altitude of 11,500 feet on the north slope of the volcano Toluca, in the State of 

 Mexico. The nest was built in the fork of a small shrub growing out of the face of 

 a cliff, about 30 feet above its base, on the side of a canyon in the pine and fir forest. 

 It is a handsome and rather bulky structure, smoothly quilted together of fine 

 mosses, and lined with the down of willow catkins. This nest was nearly inac- 

 cessible and one egg was broken in securing it. The single egg measures .64x.39 



inches. 



428. RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD. -TrocJiilus colubris Linn. Geog. 

 Dist. Eastern United States to the Great Plains, north to Canada, south in winter 

 to Cuba, Eastern Mexico and Central 



America, to Uraguay. 



This is the only species of Hum- 

 mingbird found east of the Mississippi, 

 where it is common and well-known. 

 Its small size, irridescent plumage, its 

 marvelous swiftness of flight, and the 

 architectural beauty of its nest are the 

 admiration of all. The eggs of the 

 whole family of Hummingbirds, as far 

 as known, are white, unspotted; rather 

 elliptical than oval, and always two in 

 number. The only difference noticed 

 are the relative variations in size. The 

 nests are generally saddled upon a hori- 

 zontal branch, are cup-like in shape, 

 and are mostly made up of various 

 kinds of soft vegetable down; in nearly 

 all cases covered on the outside with a 

 coating of lichens or mosses. The nest 

 of the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is 

 a miniature of the Blue-gray Gnat- 

 catcher's. It is felted with a mass of 

 exquisitely soft cottony, silky, or woolly 

 substances, such as the down from the 

 stem of plants, and is artistically cov- 

 ered on the outside with lichens. It is 

 usually placed on a horizontal limb of a 

 forest or orchard tree. Several speci- 

 mens before me are placed on branches 

 that were slanting, and the nests rest 



