Hummingbird Eccentricities 199 



by an upstairs open window. He was exquisitely fearless as he flew to my 

 finger to eat honey from a spoon, or fluttered before a petunia into which I 

 had poured sweetened water. He had his mother's zip-zip, which meant flowers 

 or happiness, and a plaintive baby peet, peet, when he wanted food. I read up on 

 diet and tried various kinds of food. The varieties of bugs which he was sup- 



FLEW TO MY FIXGER TO EAT HOXEY FROM A SPOON" 



posed to eat, he scorned, and I "tried white of egg as a substitute, but think that 

 the sweets agreed with him rather better. The little sprite had over fifty visitors 

 from babyhood to old age, and from laboring men to the president of a univer- 

 sity, who christened him "Hugo," possibly with a view to following out the law 

 of contrast. He did well from Monday afternoon until Saturday morning, 

 when he seemed, for a time, quite poorly. I was frightened about him, and took 

 him out-of-doors on his tiny perch. He soon revived and ran his beak into the 

 petunias and even flew a little way. 



But now comes the marvelous part of my story. Several days before, I had 

 heard of another nest a short distance out of town, and, on visiting it, had found 

 a beautiful nest about fifteen feet from the ground. Before I had watched long, 

 the dainty house-builder appeared with a bit of plant-down in her beak, and I 

 supposed that the structure was not done. She alighted low in the tree and was 

 partly hidden by the foliage. When I investigated, I was much surprised to find 

 another nest partly built. It was a still greater surprise when I learned that the 

 one bird owned both nests. This I could hardly believe until I saw the tiny mother 

 go to the first nest and feed her one baby, and then go down and sit on her lower 

 nest, which had slender guy-ropes of cobweb, and was only about seven and a 

 half feet from the ground. 



But to return to my worse-than-orphaned bird: I made up my mind, after 

 he had shown signs of weakening, that I would take him to the mother who 

 had but one baby, and, if a miracle came to pass, she might feed him. I flew 

 for my horse and drove out of town to the other nesting-site. Little Hugo had 



