THE RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD 



By MABEL OSGOOD WRIGHT 



THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES 

 Educational Leaflet No. 56 



When the cherry blossoms have fallen and the buds in the tumbled- 

 do\vn old apple-orchard are showing pink tips, when the gold-and-black 

 Baltimore Oriole is calling plaintively to his belated lady-love, and the 

 rich song of the unseen Rose-breast falls from the tree-tops, with a whirr 

 and a flash a jewel set in a bit of iridescent metal-work slants across the 

 garden, and we say with bated breath "The Hummingbird has come." 



A HUMMINGBIRD'S DOWNY CRADLE 



In this case the has a very definite meaning; for in the length and 

 breadth of the country that lies between the Mississippi and the Atlantic, 

 and between Florida and Labrador, there is but one species of humming- 

 bird that of the Ruby-throat. (The twilight-flying creature so often 

 mistaken for a Hummingbird is, in truth, a hawk-moth.) 



\\ hen a pair of Hummers first make up their minds to share your 

 garden you will have many chances to watch them before nest-building 

 makes them more elusive. The Hummingbird has the reputation of being 



