HUMMING-BIRDS. 



Minutest of the feathered kind, 

 Possessing- every charm combined, 

 Nature, in forming thee, designed 

 That thou shouldst be 



A proof within how little space 

 She can comprise such perfect grace. 

 Rendering thy lovely fairy race 

 Beauty's epitome." 



IT has been said that what a beautiful 

 sonnet is to the mind, one of these 

 fairy-like creations is to the eyes. 

 This is true even in the case of 

 mounted specimens, which must neces- 

 sarily have lost some of their irides- 

 cence. Few can hope to see many of 

 them alive. The gorgeous little birds 

 are largely tropical, the northern limit 

 of their abundance as species being the 

 Tropic of Cancer. They are partial to 

 mountainous regions, where there is 

 diversity of surface and soil sufficient 

 to meet their needs within a small 

 area. The highlands of the Andes in 

 South America are the regions most 

 favored by a large number of species. 

 They are most abundant in Ecuador, 

 the mountain heights affording a home 

 for more than one hundred species. 

 Columbia has about one hundred spe- 

 cies; Bolivia and Peru claim about 

 ninety-six; then follow, in consecutive 

 order. Central America, Brazil, Vene- 

 zuela, Mexico, Guiana, the West Indies, 

 and the United States. 



The eastern part of the United States 

 has but one representative of the Hum- 

 ming-bird family, and only seventeen 

 species have been found within the 

 limits of the country. As ten of these 

 really belong to the Mexicaa group, 

 we can claim ownership of only seven, 

 most of which, however, migrate far 

 south in winter. Only one of these, 

 the Anna, spends the winter in the 

 warm valleys of California. 



Most of the Hummers are honey- 

 lovers, and they extract the sweetest 

 juices of the flowers. 



The " soft susurrations " of their 

 wings, as they poise above the flowers, 

 inserting their long beaks into tubes of 

 nectar, announce their presence. Some 

 of the Warblers and Kinglets will 

 sometimes poise in this way before a 



leaf and peck an insect from its sur- 

 face, but it is not a regular habit with 

 them. The Hummer's ability to move 

 backwards while on the wing is one of 

 the most wonderful features of its 

 flight, and this movement, Mr. Ridgway 

 says, is greatly assisted by a forward 

 flirt of the bird's expanded tail. 



The nests of the Humming-birds are 

 of cup-shape and turban-shape, are 

 composed chiefly of plant-down, inter- 

 woven and bound together with Spider 

 webs, and decorated with lichens and 

 mosses. Usually the nest is saddled 

 upon a horizontal or slanting branch or 

 twig, but that of the Hermit Hummer 

 is fastened to the sides of long, pointed 

 leaves, where they are safe from Mon- 

 keys and other predaceous animals. 



"Dwelling in the snowy regions of 

 the Andes are the little gems called 

 Hill-stars," says Leander S. Keyser, 

 "which build a structure as large as a 

 man's head, at the top of which there 

 is a small, cup-shaped depression. In 

 these dainty structures the eggs are 

 laid, lying like gems in the bottom of 

 the cups, and here the little ones are 

 hatched. Some of them look more 

 like bugs than birds when they first 

 come from the shell. The method of 

 feeding the young is mostly by regur- 

 gitation; at least such is the habit 

 of the Ruby-throat, and no doubt 

 many others of the family follow the 

 fashions of the Humming-bird land. 

 The process is as follows: The parent 

 bird thrusts her long bill far down into 

 the throat of her bantling, and then, by 

 a series of forward plunges that are 

 really terrible to witness, the honey food 

 is pumped from the old bird's craw 

 into that of the youngster. So far as 

 is known the babies enjoy this vigorous 

 exercise and suffer no serious conse- 

 quences from it." 



Z19 



TyDm. r: 



