Oct. 1884.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



119 



Ruby-throated Humming Birds. 

 ( Troch ihts colubris.) 



One warm afternoon, (16th of June, 

 1874), I was collecting insects in Buffalo 

 grove near this place, and becoming tired, 

 had lain down to rest in the cool shade of 

 a large oak. While lounging there, half 

 asleep, my attention was suddenly attract- 

 ed by a loud humming noise which I 

 thought to come from a large beetle. In 

 a moment I was on the alert, but could see 

 nothing, and the noise quickly ceased, but 

 in a moment it was repeated, and contin- 

 ued for about fifteen seconds. In this way 

 the noise alternated for some time. At 

 times it would appear very close, then some 

 rods away. Finally Madam Ruby-throat, 

 for it was she, came within a few feet of 

 my face and darted away to a large But- 

 ternut, settling on what appeared to be a 

 knot on a dead limb about fifteen feet from 

 the trunk of the tree. She only remained 

 there a few seconds, when she returned to 

 me and darted at my face several times, 

 and then returned to her seat on the dead 

 limb. This was done four different times, 

 and then I began to get the idea that that 

 knot on the dead limb was a nest I had so 

 often longed to see, and which I had spent 

 many long hours searching for. It was 

 but the work of an instant to climb some 

 distance above so that the inside of the 

 nest cordd be plainly seen. There on their 

 snow white bed were two beautiful white 

 eggs, which I have since shown to many 

 admiring friends with pleasure. 



To get them safely to the ground was 

 going to be a very difficult task, as the 

 nest was fully twenty feet from the ground 

 and the limb a slender one. The task, 

 however, was accomplished by the aid of 

 two long ladders tied together at the top. 

 By standing on the top rung the nest 

 could just be reached, and by making three 

 trips the nest and eggs were brought safe- 

 ly to the ground. Incubation had just 

 commenced. The nest was such a one as 



only the Hummingbird can make, being 

 composed of the soft down of the cotton- 

 wood seed and covered with lichens, after 

 the manner of the "Wood Pewee. All the 

 time we were around or near the nest, the 

 female was ready at all times to show her 

 pugilistic qualities by darting at our eyes 

 and chirping, loudly for so small a thing. 

 It seemed mean to rob the poor little thing 

 of her treasures after she had defended 

 them so bravely, and can only offer the 

 old excuse — ; 'The ends of science." 



Three years later another nest was found 

 in a ravine in a very remote part of the 

 woods. At this particular place Hum- 

 mingbirds had been very plentiful since 

 their arrival in May ; so early in the morn- 

 ing of June 18th, I set out to find a nest 

 if possible. The banks of the ravine were 

 very steep and thickly wooded. A stream 

 at one time had found its way through the 

 bottom. Dead trees were numerous — a 

 more desolate place would be hard to find. 



As I was passing along, a Hummingbird 

 came buzzing about my head a moment 

 and then darted away. Thinking she 

 woidd return, I sat down on a large stone, 

 and had scarcely waited a minute, when 

 she returned and flew at me a few times, 

 and left as before. This time by close 

 watching I saw her fly into the top of a 

 dead Oak which I went to, and easily found 

 the nest. It was placed on the upper side 

 of a small limb where it forked, and was 

 about thirty feet from the ground. After 

 climbing to the nest, I sat on a large limb 

 two feet from it. While in this posi- 

 tion, the bird would fly very close to my 

 head, remaining at the same place in the 

 air for several seconds, chirping loudly all 

 the time. Her notes consisted of one syl- 

 lable, sometimes uttered two or three times 

 in quick succession — something like tweet, 

 tweet. She would even alight on her nest 

 when it was within easy reach of me, and 

 remain there until my hand was within four 

 inches of her, when she would leave the 

 nest quickly. This nest was built of down 



