268 FROM BLOMIDON TO SMOKY. 



female drew near again to the coveted drills, 

 and so forced him to renew the chase. Some- 

 times they moved so slowly that they seemed 

 like bubbles or airy seed vessels wafted by the 

 breeze, and sometimes they flew in short, ever- 

 changing lines, so that the eye wearied of watch- 

 ing them. At last the female gave up the 

 struggle and vanished above the neighboring 

 treetops. 



Frequently the visitors did not come singly, 

 but arrived two or three together, and made 

 combined attacks upon the drills. Then the 

 air would be filled with violent humming and 

 the most petulant squeaking, as the possessors 

 hurled themselves first at one intruder and then 

 at another, driving them back and forth, as 

 though playing battledore and shuttlecock with 

 them. Twice I saw the male, who defended the 

 western tree, lock bills with a visiting female 

 and fall almost to the ground in combat ; and 

 in several instances I noticed a hotly pursued 

 visitor escape by suddenly doubling, seizing a 

 twig, and then hanging head downward by one 

 foot behind a cluster of leaves. As a rule, the 

 ruby-throat, when drinking, makes a perfectly 

 audible humming, the male making a sound 

 somewhat louder and deeper than that produced 

 by the female. It is, however, entirely within 

 the range of their accomplishments to hover 



