THE BIRDS OF WAYNE COUNTY. 293 



the unused portions. For a short time in the spring they sometimes have recourse to 

 the large chimney of a church, but as their numbers increase this is promptly aband- 

 oned for the presumably more commodious one of the court-house close at hand. 

 Occasionally during the summer (from June to September), the Swifts to the number 

 of one or two hundred may be seen to enter the court-house chimney, but this does 

 not appear to be a common or regular occurrence. 



The breeding season is in June ; and four or five eggs constitute the usual com- 

 plement. The female when frightened from the nest, instead of leaving entirely, very 

 frequently retreats down the chimney, being with considerable difficulty induced to 

 reappear. 



SUBORDER TROCHILI. HUMMINGBIRDS. 

 FAMILY TROCHILID/E. HUMMINGBIRDS. 

 GENUS TROCHILU8 LINN^US. 



SUBGEXUS TROCHILUS. 



86. Trochilus colubris LINN. 

 Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 



An abundant summer resident. It appears in spring with considerable regularity 

 between the first and the tenth of May, and remains until September, not, however, 

 being common after the first of this month. It is very partial to the flowers of the 

 buckeye {^Esculus glabra}, and while this tree is in bloom, during the early part of 

 May, assembles often in numbers wherever these favorite flowers are to be found. 



In this locality the Hummingbird nests chiefly in June and the early part of July, 

 though eggs have been taken by Mr. Henderson as late as July 24. An apple orchard 

 is apparently the preferred situation. If the first nest be disturbed a second is often 

 if not always constructed. 



As of possible interest in connection with the statements of Mr. Bradford Torrey 1 

 in regard to the absence of the male from the nest during the period of incubation 

 and of rearing the young, it may be stated that on two occasions the writer has 

 observed the male at the nest : On June 26, 1892, when a male was seen with the 

 female about a nest which contained eggs; and on July 4, 1892, when the male alone 

 was noted at another nest which was occupied by two young birds apparently but two 

 or three days old. 



Early in the morning on June i, 1892, a Hummingbird was noticed fluttering up 

 and down against the plate glass of a large show window on one of the main business 

 streets of Wooster, and apparently attempting to enter the window as if unaware of 

 the impenetrable nature of the glass. 



'The Footpath Way, 1893, pp. 135 et seq. 



