THE OOt-OGIST. 



143 



takes to task some Briertown, N. J., 

 sketch artist who has penned certain 

 objectionable nature literature for Har- 

 per's Magazine. It is in regard to the 

 hummingbird that the great writer be- 

 came strenuous in showing the falsity 

 of some supposed observations. While, 

 in truth, he does point out what seem 

 to be glaring inaccuracies, that are 

 actually borne out by observation. 



The first idea he attacks is that the 

 breeding date of the hummingbird is 

 chronologically wrong since the time 

 is set when the mountain and meadow 

 lilies are in bloom. Quoting the ex- 

 act language he says: "Now the hum- 

 mers nest in May and early June while 

 the mountain lily rarely blooms before 

 July. In New Jersey it may bloom in 

 late June but the nesting of the hum- 

 mer will be correspondingly early or 

 near the middle of May." While per- 

 haps Mr. Burrough's observations and 

 reading may have brought him to 

 these conclusions, they do not in real- 

 ity accord with facts as evidenced by 

 other observers. Mr. R. C. Harlow in 

 the October, 1906, OOLOGIST, has the 

 following to say: "The recent arti- 

 cle relative to the nesting of the Hum- 

 mingbird calls to my mind a nest 

 which I examined in 1904. On Aug- 

 ust 20, it contained two hatching eggs. 

 Built 10 feet up on a horizontal hem- 

 lock limb and very deep. Place, Wash- 

 ington County, Md." This instance 

 shows that in Maryland the hummer 

 breeds later than June. If this were 

 the only case in which the ruby-throat 

 breeds later than May or early June 

 Mr. Burroughs might hold that this 

 was an exception to the rule or that 

 the observer was mistaken. However, 

 in Kansas at about the same latitude 

 as Maryland and two weeks further 

 south than Northern New Jersey, the 

 writer has made rather complete notes 

 in regard to the Hummingbird. About 

 ten years ago, personally, he found and 



collected two sets of eggs together 

 with the nests. This was before he be- 

 gan to preserve notes. The first was 

 about May 20th and the second in 

 June. 



The dates in the following tend to 

 show that Mr. Murrough's chronology 

 is not beyond question. Observe the 

 dates. The exact language has been 

 retained, even where there are poorly 

 constructed sentences or mistakes in 

 the use of the English language. In 

 the writers' note book, June 24th, 1906, 

 he finds the following reference to the 

 Hummingbird: "This afternoon Ralph 

 Oilman and I went out north. I start- 

 ed and met Ralph. After talking a bit 

 he decided to go with me. We went 

 straight over the hills. * * * Above 

 the "Cave," we heard a Hummingbird 

 making quite a fuss and we both be- 

 gan to watch it. We were sure that 

 there must be a nest. Sure enough! 

 The bird flew to a small hickory limb 

 just above our heads, and we both 

 saw at the same time, the small lichen- 

 covered knot on the upper side of the 

 branch. The limb was hardly larger 

 than my thumb, if as large. The 

 nest was on a small leaning hickory, 

 sticking out over the bank. Climbing 

 up the bank, we could not see to the 

 bottom of the nest ; though it was con- 

 siderably lower than our heads; so I 

 climbed up into a small tree and look- 

 ed down. There were two small bean- 

 like eggs. We did not try to get 

 them." 



"July 9, 1906. Saturday morning 

 (July 7) I went to the' woods with El- 

 mer Monahan. He had found a couple 

 of hummingbirds' nests and wanted 

 me to take a picture of one of them. 

 We drove down over the "Big Hill." 

 * * * * We next turned in west and 

 came up on old wood road to the side 

 of a deep embankment, to the region 

 of the first hummer's nest. * * * * 

 He had told me it was in an iron- 



