THE HUMMING-BIRDS OF CHOC Jiff A. 263 



and repelled intruders with great vigor, flying 

 violently at them, squeaking, humming as noisily 

 as a swarm of bees, and returning to his favorite 

 perch as soon as they had been put to flight. He 

 often attacked the sapsuckers themselves, buzzed 

 in their faces, and seemed little abashed when 

 they turned upon him, as they sometimes did, 

 and drove him from their midst. He also had a 

 habit of squeaking spitefully when he was drink- 

 ing from the sap-wells, especially on his return 

 from a bout with some other humming-bird. 

 Searching for him in July, 1893, 1 failed to find 

 him, but discovered that in his place a pair of 

 birds seemed to have established themselves. Of 

 course it is possible that my friend of previous 

 years may have taken to himself a wife and have 

 become mild-mannered in consequence, but I find 

 it impossible to believe in this theory, so pro- 

 nounced were the old male's temper and peculiar 

 ways. The new male, for example, did not use 

 the same twigs for perches, and he did not keep 

 his head wagging from side to side as the old one 

 did with a vigor and regularity which nothing 

 but a pendulum ever equaled. 



The new male, however, showed me a perform- 

 ance far more interesting in character than any 

 of his petulant predecessor's, and one which es- 

 tablishes the Chocorua ruby-throat as a musician 

 and a dancer. One day, while this male was 



