HUMMING-BIRD. 77 



it is seen in great numbers,* the wonder is excited how so feebly 

 constructed and delicate a little creature can make its way over 

 such extensive regions of lakes and forests, among so many 

 enemies, all its superiors in strength and magnitude. But its 

 very minuteness, the rapidity of its flight, which almost eludes 

 the eye, and that admirable instinct, reason, or whatever else 

 it may be called, and daring courage which heaven has implanted 

 in its bosom, are its guides and protectors. In these we may 

 also perceive the reason, why an all-wise Providence has made 

 this little hero an exception to a rule which prevails almost uni- 

 versally through nature, viz. that the smallest species of a tribe 

 are the most prolific. The Eagle lays one, sometimes two, eggs; 

 the Crow five; the Titmouse seven or eight; the small European 

 Wren fifteen; the Humming-bird two: and yet this latter is 

 abundantly more numerous in America than the Wren is in 

 Europe. 



About the twenty-fifth of April the Humming-bird usually 

 arrives in Pennsylvania; and about the tenth of May begins to 

 build its nest. This is generally fixed on the upper side of a 

 horizontal branch, not among the twigs, but on the body of the 

 branch itself. Yet I have known instances where it was attached 

 by the side to an old moss-grown trunk; and others where it 

 was fastened on a strong rank stalk, or weed, in the garden; 

 but these cases are rare. In the woods it very often chooses a 

 white oak sapling to build on; and in the orchard, or garden, 

 selects a pear tree for that purpose. The branch is seldom more 

 than ten feet from the ground. The nest is about an inch in 

 diameter, and as much in depth. A very complete one is now 

 lying before me, and the materials of which it is composed are 

 as follow: The outward coat is formed of small pieces of a 

 species of bluish gray lichen that vegetates on old trees and 

 fences, thickly glued on with the saliva of the bird, giving 

 firmness and consistency to the whole, as well as keeping out 



* Mr. M'Kenzie speaks of seeing' a "beautiful Humming-bird" near the 

 head of the Unjigah or Pence river, in lat. 54; but has not particularized the 

 species. 



