TK()ClIII,lI).K-TnK IlIM.MIN(i-niUI)S, 449 



skins ; oIIrts, Iiowtvit, iiii; not distiiifjiuialiahlo from tlui ii(irtlu;rn sjicei- 



IIU'IIS. 



llAiiiTS. This species is luiiiul tliioui,'lu)ut unstern North America, as far 

 west us tiie jNIissoiiri Valluy, and luvcds from Klnrida and tiie valley of the 

 iJio (irandii to lii;^ii norllii'ni latitudes, liiciiardson states that it ranges at 

 least to the oTtii iiarallcl, and proijably even fartiier north, lie ol)taiiied 

 specimens on the plains of tiie Saskatchewan, and Mr. hrnnnnond found 

 one of its nests near tiie siairce of the Klk Itiver. i\Ir. Dresser found this 

 i)ird lireeding in Soutliwestern Texa.s, and also resident there during' the 

 winter months, and 1 have received their nests and e<,'ys from Florida and 

 (Jeorj^ia. It was found by Mr. Skinner to Iw abundant in (Juatttmala durin<,' 

 the winter months, on tiie soutliern slope of the j;reat Cordillera, showiiijf 

 that it chooses for its winter retreat the moderate climate afforded l)y a re- 

 gion lying between the elevations of three and four tiiousand feet, wluro 

 it \vint(!rs in large numliers. Mr. Salviu noted their first arrival in 

 (luatemala as early as the li4tli of August. From that date the mimlier 

 rapidly increased until the first week in October, when it had become by 

 far the most common species about huenas. It .seemed also to be univer- 

 sally distributed, being eipially conlmon at Coiian, at San (leroninu), and the 

 jilai.is of Salaniii. 



The birds of tiiis species make tlieir appearance on our southern border 

 late in March, and shiwly move northward in their migrations, reaching 

 Up])er Georgia about the loth of April, Pennsylvania from the last of 

 April to about the middle of May, and farther north the last of May or the 

 first of June. They ne.st in Massachusetts aliont the lUtli of June, and are 

 about thirteen days between the full number of eggs and the appearance of 

 the young. They resent any ai)i>i'oach to their nest, and will even make 

 angry movements around the head of the intruder, uttering a sharp outcry. 

 Other than this I have never heard them utter any note. 



Attempts to keej) in confinement the Humming-Hird have been only par- 

 tially successful. They have been known 'o live, at the best, only a \'ew 

 months, and soon jierish, ])artly from imjierfect nourishment and unsuita- 

 ble food, and probably also from insuflicient warmth. 



Numerous examinations of stomachs of these birds, taken in a natural 

 state, demonstrate that minute insects constitute a very large jiroiwrtion of 

 their necessary food. Tiiese are swalhnved whole. The young birds feed 

 by putting their own liills down the throats of their parents, sucking ]irolia- 

 bly a prepared sustenance of nectar and fragments of insects. They raise, 

 I think, lait one brood in a season. The young soon learn to take care of 

 themselves, and apjiear to remain .some time after their ])arents have left. 

 They leav(! New Kngland in September, and have all passed southward be- 

 yond our limits liy Noveiiilier. 



A nest of this iiinl, from Dr. (Jerhardt, of Georgia, measures 1.7") inches 

 in its external diameter and l.uU in height. Its cavity measures 1.00 



VOL. II. 07 



