208 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



that to the unskilled eye they are only part of the 

 landscape. When the female chances to be the 

 more gaily coloured, then the duties of incubation 

 fall largely to the male. The more brilliant the 

 plumage of the male, the less he remains around the 

 nest during incubation. This partially explains the 

 seeming indifference of certain male birds to their 

 family duties. 



What wonderful appreciation of the benefits of 

 protective resemblance is seen in the nest of the 

 humming-bird! It is placed on the grey-green 

 bough of an apple tree, silvered over with lichens, 

 exactly like those of the branch on which it rests, 

 with here and there a bit of green moss and white 

 paper so interwoven as to appear precisely like a 

 cluster of flowers. The average person passes it 

 unnoticed. I have seen a humming-bird's nest so 

 skilfully arranged in a honeysuckle vine that the 

 deception was rendered almost complete. Hum- 

 ing-birds themselves are so brilliantly coloured that 

 as they flit in and out among nectared flowers 

 glistening like jewelled leaves, they are well pro- 

 tected, especially if the foliage is thick. 



The number of individuals in the bird kingdom 

 belonging to an imitated species is greatly in ex- 

 cess of those imitating; these imitations are not only 

 of plumage and colour, but voice and call as well. 



