214 TROCH1LUS COLUBRIS. 



but of voices, each scolding the other loudly, while the fray only ends in one being driven 

 from the field. In spite of this propensity to quarrel, these Humming Birds become re- 

 markably tame and gentle when kept in confinement. I once obtained a few alive and 

 holding them in my hand, dipped their beaks into a cup of sweetened water when they 

 began to drink eagerly. Then they forgot all fear, would perch on my head, shoulder, or 

 hand, and would always come to me at once when I appeared with the cup in my hand. 

 This sweetened water did not appear to satisfy them entirely for those which I liberated 

 instantly began to catch insects. But one that I kept for several weeks readily ate small 

 bits of meat. It appeared perfectly healthy and doubtlessly would have lived for a long 

 time in captivity had not its career been brought to a close by a young Least Bittern which 

 was kept in the same room with it, and which managed to kill it, afterward devouring 

 the body. I think that honey or the sweet juices of flowers is taken only as a kind of side 

 dish, insects forming the greater portion of their diet, for the stomachs of those which I 

 have opened contained nothing but minute insects. The tongue, however, as seen in the 

 figure and as described, is fitted for taking liquid food and the birds are evidently very 

 fond of it. My friend, Mr. W. B. Dowse, has given me some very interesting notes on 

 this subject which are, I think, quite new and certainly novel. I hereby give the account 

 as he has kindly written it for me. 



"I was collecting in Somerset County, Maine, during the first two weeks in August 

 of the year 1878 and while there, the Ruby-throated Humming Birds were gathering, 

 preparatory to their southern migration. There is a small island in Pleasant Ridge Pond 

 the trees upon which, with the exception of perhaps a dozen, were blown down during 

 some storm and subsequently burnt; among the fallen timber, the fire weed was growing 

 most luxuriantly and in full bloom. This made the place a favorite feeding ground for the 

 Ruby-throats and for three days there were too many on the island to be safely calculated, 

 but by the tenth, they were all gone. They seemed to be females and young birds for I 

 saw only one mature male. Of course the surrounding woods had its quota of these little, 

 restless beings and I was much interested in watching their actions when they discovered 

 the Yellow-bellied Woodpeckers which were exceedingly common, at work. The ham- 

 mering of these latter named birds would be but commenced when a Ruby-throat, sometimes 

 two, would put in an appearance and dart, with great scolding, at the worker who would 

 immediately dodge to one side, when the valiant robber would insert his bill into the new- 

 ly made hole. This was, I think, in order to obtain the sap for, when I held up several 

 which I had shot and which had been so engaged, two or three clear drops of liquid ran 

 from the bill of each and upon dissecting, I found nothing but minute spiders and more 

 liquid. These little scenes almost invariably occurred in a live tree, for though the Wood- 

 peckers often worked upon dead limbs, they were then seldom molested by the Humming 

 Birds." 



I found the Ruby-throats very abundant at Key West during winter and they frequent- 

 ed the oleanders which grow so luxuriantly in that mild climate that they attain a consid- 

 erable height; in fact, they become small trees and bloom through the month of December. 

 I occasionally observed these birds feeding about other flowering shrubs but the oleanders 



