A DAY'S DRIVE IN THREE STATES 25 



for such a state of things ? I should hate 

 to believe, as I have heard it maintained, 

 that female birds in general cherish little or 

 no real affection for their mates, regarding 

 them simply as necessities of the hour ; but 

 it is certain that widows among them waste 

 no time in mourning, and it appears to me 

 likely enough, if I am to say what I think, 

 that the lady hummer, a fussy and capable 

 body (we all know the human type), having 

 her nest done and the eggs laid, prefers her 

 mate's room to his company, and gives him 

 his walking ticket. 



So much for a bit of half -serious specula- 

 tion. The interest of the nest found here 

 on Stumphouse Mountain lay, as I have 

 said, in the fact that it was unfinished, and 

 the male owner of it — if he is to be called 

 an owner — was still present. Whether he 

 was actually assisting in the construction of 

 the family house, I am unable to tell. For 

 the few minutes that I remained the female 

 alone entered it, doing something or other 

 to the wall or rim, and then flying away. 

 With so long a journey before us there was 

 no tarrying for further investigations, glad 

 as I should have been to see the ruby-throat 



