. 120 HUMMINGBIRDS. 
Swifts naturally nest in hollow trees or caves, and it 
is only in. the more densely populated parts of their 
range that they resort to chimneys and outbuildings. 
The nest of our Chimney Swift is a bracketlike basket 
of small twigs. They are gathered by the bird while 
on the wing, and are fastened together and to the wall 
of the tree or chimney with a glutinous saliva. 
The Chimney Swift arrives from the south about 
April 20, and remains until October. Few birds are 
better known, and under the name of “Chimney Swal- 
low” he is familiar to every one who distinguishes a 
Crow from a Robin. But, beyond similar feeding habits, 
Swifts have little in common with Swallows; in fact, are 
more nearly related to Hummingbirds. 
HUMMINGBIRDS. (FAMILY TROCHILID2.) 
Humnrinesirps are peculiar to the New World. About 
five hundred species are known, but only one of them is 
Ruby-throated found east of the Mississippi. This is 
Hummingbira, Our Ruby-throat, the sexes of which are 
Trochilus colubris. sometimes thought to represent differ- 
Plate XXIX. ent species. The Ruby-throat winters 
as far south as Central America, but about May 1 we 
may expect him to return to us, for he is as regular in 
his migrations as though his wings measured a foot and 
a half instead of an inch and a half in length. If you 
would have him visit you, plant honeysuckle and trum- 
pet flowers about your piazza, and while they are bloom- 
ing there will be few days when you may not hear the 
humming of this tiny bird’s rapidly vibrating wings. 
The Ruby-throat feeds on insects as well as on the 
juices of flowers, and when you see him probing a corolla 
he is quite as likely to be after the one as the other. The 
young are fed by regurgitation, the parent bird insert- 
