458 HUMMING BIRDS. 



forsaken. Desultory in its movements, roving only through 

 the region of blooming sweets, its visits to the Northern States 

 are delayed till the month of May. Still later, as if deter- 

 mined that no flower shall " blush unseen, or waste its sweet- 

 ness on the desert air," our little sylph, on wings as rapid as 

 the wind, at once launches without hesitation into the flowery 

 wilderness of the north. 



The first cares of the little busy pair are now bestowed on 

 their expected progeny. This instinct alone propelled them 

 from their hibernal retreat within the tropics ; strangers amidst 

 their numerous and brilliant tribe, they seek only a transient 

 asylum in the milder regions of their race. With the earliest 

 dawn of the northern spring, in pairs, as it were with the celer- 

 ity of thought, they dart at intervals through the dividing 

 space, till they again arrive in the genial and more happy re- 

 gions of their birth. The enraptured male is now assiduous 

 in attention to his mate ; forgetful of selfish wants, he feeds 

 his companion with nectared sweets, and jealous of danger 

 and interruption to the sole companion of his delights, he often 

 almost seeks a quarrel with the giant birds which surround him : 

 he attacks even the Kingbird, and drives the gliding Martin 

 to the retreat of his box. The puny nest is now prepared in 

 the long-accustomed orchard or neighboring forest. It is con- 

 cealed by an artful imitation of the mossy branch to which 

 it is firmly attached and incorporated. Bluish-gray lichens, 

 agglutinated by saliva and matched with surrounding objects, 

 instinctively form the deceiving external coat ; portions of the 

 cunning architecture, for further security, are even tied down 

 to the supporting station. Within are laid copious quantities of 

 the pappus or other down of plants ; the inner layer of this 

 exquisite bed is finished with the shortwood of the budding 

 F/atanus, the mullein, or the soft clothing of unfolding fern- 

 stalks. Incubation, so tedious to the volatile pair, is completed 

 in the short space of ten days, and in the warmer States a 

 second brood is raised. When the nest is approached, the 

 parents dart around the intruder, within a few inches of his 

 face ; and the female, if the young are out, often resumes her 



