4G0 NORTH AMKIilCAN BIltD5?. 



Speciinens IVoni the tultlL'-liinds ut" Mexico are smjiller thiiii those from 

 ()re''on, and have yellower, less riil»v throats. 



IIahits. Tins l»rilliant species has an extemled distrihution throii;,'hoiit 

 the western part of North America, Itein;^ I'ountl from the valley of tlie Kio 



Clrande to the Pacific, and fr(jm jMexico to 

 Sitka. It was tirst discovered near Nootka 

 Sound, hy that distinj^iiished navij^'ator, Cap- 

 tain ( 'o(»k, and described hy Latham, and has 

 heen met with as far to the south as Ileal del 

 Monte, on the ta) de-lands of Mexico, hy Mr. 

 Tayhir, whose 8[>ecimens were described by 

 Mr. Swainson. 



lasp ontsfu /«. Y)y Coues fouud it very al)undant at Ari- 



zona, near Fort \Vhij)ple, as it is also aloni,' the whole slope of the liocky 

 Mountains. It is a summer resident in that Territory, and breeds there al)un- 

 dantly, arrivin;^' at Fort Whipple April l(», and remaining until the middle 

 of September, being found in all situations, particularly meadows, open 

 copses, ravines, etc., where flowers are most abundant. 



Mr. Dall gives them as common summer residents at Sitka. Bischoff 

 obtained sixteen specimens. I)r. Sucklev says they are very abundant in 

 the western provinces of both Oregon and Washington Territory, and in 

 Vancouver Islaml. They appear to be very hjirdy, and are one of the earli- 

 est of the migratory l>irds to arrive in spring. At Fort Steilacoom, latitude 

 47', they appeared Aja-il 10. They are supposed to commence their south- 

 ern migrations from that region in September, — a move induced by the 

 scarcity of flowers and lack of means of caj)tivating in.seets, rather than by 

 cold. In Washington Territory their incubation connnences about the lOth 

 of May, and is made evident by the flerce and angry battles ccmtinually oc- 

 curring between the male birds, in whicli thev tilt at each other at full 

 speed, at the same time keeping up a loud and vociferous sfpieaking and 

 buzzing. 



A nest with eggs, of tliis species, obtained by Dr. Cooper near Fort 

 Slaughter, May 23, was found in the forked branch of a snowl)erry-l)Ush. 

 It was composed principally of line green moss, lined internally with the 

 delicate floss of the cotton wood, and externally bordered most artistically 

 with rock lichens. The female was on the nest, and allowed so near an ap- 

 proach as almost to admit of being grasped l)y the hand. The nest was 2.00 

 inches in diameter and 1.50 in height. The ei'i'S measured .4o by ..'>.') of an 

 inch, and were white, as in all the species. 



Dr. Cooper states that the appearance of this species at the Straits of 

 Fuca is coincident with the 1)lossomin<4 of the red-flowering currant, which 

 begins to bloom on the Ccdumbia March 10. The male of this species has 

 a remarkable habit, when a stranger or a wild animal ajiproaches its nest, of 

 rising to a great height in the air, and of then darting down perpendicularly 



