Vol. IX] MAILLIARD— AVIFAUNA OF THE INNER COAST RANGE 285 



around from side to side on an even keel, as it were, and back 

 again, evidently on the lookout for females. The latter would 

 be sedately sitting on a bare twig or dead limb, usually of a 

 low bush, and very difficult for us to locate. From time to 

 time they would emit a peculiar sort of grunt, if that will 

 convey the idea, this word being defined in the dictionary as 

 "a deep, guttural sound" and it was, relatively speaking, both 

 deep and guttural — for a hummingbird! The male appar- 

 ently caught this sound, or else caught sight of the female — 

 it was impossible to say which came first, for it seems most 

 probable that the sound was meant to attract his attention — 

 and would immediately dart to the spot, at once commencing 

 the ascending and diving antics common to all, or most, 

 species of hummingbirds. There is a peculiar tone to the 

 whizzing sound that the Calliope makes in the downward rush 

 which could hardly be mistaken for that made by any other 

 species, once it is fastened in the observer's mind, and this 

 distinctiveness is accentuated by a very characteristic squeak 

 given at or near the lowest point of the dive. The birds are 

 so small and their evolutions so rapid that it is extremely 

 difficult for the eye to follow them. Between times the males 

 would perch on, or near, the top of an oak or fir sapling, from 

 which they would have a good view, and remain quiet, per- 

 haps just resting, for short periods, but were very difficult 

 to approach. It was hard to determine whether their leaving 

 their post of observation was due to fear of approaching dan- 

 ger or only the result of a sudden impulse that would have 

 caused them to take flight anyway. 



When shot they are exceedingly hard to find, small as 

 they are and with so little brilliant coloring. In fact, even on 

 open, practically bare ground they are by no means easy to 

 retrieve. The safest way to procure specimens of the males 

 was to watch in some promising spot which was fairly open, 

 with but little grass or trash on the ground, and to shoot 

 them from a distance with a good-sized load of dust shot as 

 they poised in the air. There was little chance of more than 

 one or two pellets out of the charge striking such a small 

 object as one of these hummingbircjs at twenty to thirty 

 yards, there actually being quite a chgfnce of none striking at 

 all. Seven were secured at this time, five males and two 

 females, and several lost. One of the females contained the 



