skins ; otliors, liowcvcr, mv. not (listin«,MiiHlial>k' I'loiu tin- unit hern si't-ci- 



lUCUS. 



Habits. Tliis sixM-ics is IouikI tliiouL^'liout eastern North Anieriea. as far 

 west as the Missouri X'allev, and Itreeds from Florida and the vaHey of the 

 liio (Irande to hi.uh northern latitiuU-s. iJiehanlson slates tliat it ran«^es at 

 least to the r)7th parallel, an»l probably even farther north. He (d)tained 

 si>eciniens on the j.lains of the Saskatehewan, an«l Mr. |)rnninion«l found 

 one of its nests near the soiiree of the Klk Itivcr. Mr. Oresser found this 

 bird breeding' in Southwestern Te.xas, aiul also resident then* diirin;,' the 

 winter months, and I iiavr received their nests and e<;^^s from Florida and 

 (ieorj^ia. It was found by Mr. Skinner to Im; alamdant in (Jnalemala duriuir 

 the winter ni(»ntlis, on the southern slope of the «;reat Coidillera, showinj,' 

 that it chooses for its winter retreat the moderate climate afforded by a re- 

 gion lying between the elevations of three and h)ur thousand feet, where 

 it winters in large numbers. Mr. Sal v in noted their first arrivjd in 

 (iuateniaki as early as the 24th of August. From that date the nmuber 

 rapidly increased until the first week in ( )ctober, when it had become by 

 fixr the most comnum species about l)uenas. It seemed also to be univer- 

 sally distributed, being e(iually common at Cohan, at San (leroninio. and the 

 plaiiis of Salama. 



The birds of this species make their a])i)earance on our southern border 

 late in March, and sh>wly m(»ve northward in their migrations, reaching 

 UpjK'r Georgia about the Inth of April, Pemisylvania from the last of 

 April to about the middle of May, and farther north the last of May or the 

 first of June. They nest in Massachusetts about the lUth of June, and are 

 about thirteen days between the full numl)er of eggs and the appearance of 

 the young. They resent any ai)proach to their nest, and will even make 

 angry movements around the heatl of the intruder, uttering a shar]) outcry. 

 Other than this I have never heard them utter any note. 



Attempts to kee]) in continement the llumming-ljird have been only par- 

 tially successful. They have l)een known to live, at the best, only a lew 

 months, an<l soon ]»erish, i)artly from imperfect nourishment and unsuita- 

 ble food, and probably also from insufficient warmth. 



Numerous examinations of stomachs of these birds, taken in a natural 

 state, demonstrate that minute insects constitute a very large i)roportion of 

 their necessarv food. These are swallowed whole. The vounii birds feed 



%.■ ft »^ 



by putting their own bills dov.ii the throats of their jmrents, sucking j)rol>a- 

 bly a ]>re])ared sustenance of nectar and fragments of insects. They raise, 

 I think, Itut one brood in a season. The voung soon learn to take care of 

 themselves, and ap])ear to remain some time after their parents have left. 

 They leaver Xew England in September, and have all passed southward be- 

 yond our limits bv November. 



A nest of this bird, from Dr. Gerhardt, of Georgia, measures l.To inches 

 in its external diameter and 1.50 in height. Its cavity measures 1.00 



vol.. n. 57 



