Happenings by the Way 113 



their nests. Presently the susurrus of the humming- 

 bird was heard, and a moment later two ruby-throats, a 

 male and. a female, flashed into view on the slope below 

 me. The tiny madam settled on a twig near the ground, 

 while her ruby-throated spouse performed one of the 

 queerest antics I have ever witnessed in featherland. 

 He began to swing back and forth in an arc of almost 

 half a circle, the diameter of which was at least twelve 

 feet, just grazing his mate whenever he reached the lowest 

 point of his concentric movements. Back and forth he 

 swung at least a dozen times, looking like a tiny pendu- 

 lum moving in an immense arc, and, oddly enough, the 

 segment seemed to be perfectly formed every time. Had 

 the bird wheeled entirely around, he would, I feel sure, 

 have described a circle and not an ellipse. The move- 

 ment was exceedingly swift, and might well have been 

 called the embodiment of grace. Suddenly, as the 

 diminutive acrobat reached the highest point of his arc, 

 he dashed off to the right in a straight line, followed by his 

 mate, and in a moment both had disappeared. Whether 

 other observers have been witnesses of this curious gam- 

 bol, I am unable to say. 



Have you ever been ill-mannered enough to watch the 

 birds going to bed? I remember spending an evening in 

 the woods playing the role of Paul Pry on my feathered 

 neighbors. The sun was just sinking behind the bluffs 

 on the other side of a broad river the Missouri and 

 the moon, which was half full, was hanging high in the 

 blue sky. What were those two large black objects over 



