FAMILY Trochllld*. 



the Mississippi. This is our own little Ruby-throat, and 

 he is comparatively small beside the largest and most 

 magnificent species recently discovered in Arizona, 

 named Eugenes fulgens. This splendid "hummer" is 

 about six inches long ! The smaller species fly so swiftly 

 that their wings are lost in a " humming " mist encircling 

 the little body ; but the wings of the larger species move 

 with sufficient moderation for the eye to detect the 

 beats. The remarkable gorget (the name of the Hum- 

 mingbird's ruby collar) is, under a magnifying glass, a 

 resplendent blaze of color. 



Ruby-throated This is the only Hummingbird of east- 

 Hummingbird ern North America. His range is from 

 ^olub? Labrador to Florida. So charming a little 



L. 3.70 inches creature, devoid of music, needs none of 

 May isth it, because he is a veritable symphony in 



color, a harmony of metallic greens and browns and 

 ruby-red. The upper parts are shining green modified 

 by brownish shadows ; wings and tail brown with 

 purplish side-lights ; throat a lustrous ruby-red mar- 

 gined with white-gray at the breast ; under parts 

 dusky gray. The male in autumn almost lacks the 

 ruby-red ; in the female it is altogether wanting, and 

 the tail has a more rounded contour. Nest, a curious 

 little structure built of plant down and fibres, covered 

 on the outside with lichens which closely match in 

 colors the limb on which it is fastened. It has, in fact, 

 all the appearance of a knot belonging to the branch. 

 The two pure white eggs are about half an inch long. 

 The mother-bird feeds her young by the process of regur- 

 gitation ; the food is largely made up of tiny insects. 



The only note which the Hummingbird possesses is a 

 tiny squeak without definite tone. He utters the sound 

 frequently while he is at work probing the flowers in the 

 garden, as though he were afraid of capture. It is 

 plainly a note of caution, meaning, possibly, " Look out 

 now ; don't attempt to catch me by the tail while my 

 head is buried in this morning-glory ! " The bird is so 

 remarkably fearless, though, that I doubt very much 



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