AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 69 



these venture into the states. One of these, the Ruby-throat, notice- 

 able by a patch of color — "metallic in hue, but in the sun lights to a 

 flame," — is found in abundance and ought to be familiar to everybody.. 



Everyone knows the the Rcby-throated Hummidg bird, or would do- 

 so, only that some people confuse him with the bright-colored long- 

 tongued sphinx moths that are seen hovering, mostly in the early even- 

 ing, over the flowers of the garden. The average person seldom 

 notices one on a branch, they are so small and easily overlooked, and 

 occasionally a person perceives not one under his very nose, except 

 when guided by the gesticulations of some one else. Many persons, 

 also, imagine this bird lives constantly on the wing, they never saw one 

 otherwise, they say. Yet, if they observed attentively, they could often 

 see them basking in the sun on some quiet twig. Recreation, to these 

 plumed bipeds, is of considerable importance, and there they pass but 

 a fraction of their time in aerial navigation. 



It is curious and interesting to watch the male, who is more gorge- 

 ously attired than the female, glide upward to the height of twenty or 

 thirty feet, and then descend like a bullet, instantly rebounding to the 

 same height as before, as if he was suspended by a rubber band, the 

 elasticity of which caused him to bound back and forth thru the air. 

 In order to see this process of gymnastics, I had to "freeze," that is, 

 standing as still as possible whenever his quick eye scanned the place 

 for moving objects. This is necessary — all naturalists realize this — no 

 matter how painful or ludicrous your position may be, as a single move- 

 ment, visible to wild creatures in their natural state, will always con- 

 sider you dangerous to them. Then, after he had fairly cut the air with 

 his marvelous gyrations, he settled himself comfortably on the fence 

 and yawned a little yawn, sick of the sickening honey and excitement 

 of the day. I, also had ample time to notice his apparently useless 

 ebony-black feet, which were subjected to strong muscular tension in 

 its efforts to preserve equilibrium of a fat and supple body, weighing: 

 on the average only twentw-eight grains. 



The plumage of this bird is of special interest, ahd its arrangement 

 and color vary with the species. All the most magnificent and brilliant 

 colors you can imagine are fairly showered upon them. The wings and 

 tail of the Ruby-throat are a soft brown, and as its name signifies, it 

 carries a patch of scarlet at its throat. Otherwise, the bird is of that 

 bright color which alternates in green and gold. All Hummers have 

 ten feathers in their tail, and their position differs widely with each 

 variety. One certain kind carries all the glory of a peacock's tail in 

 miniature, and another the correct fac-simile of a Lyre-bird's graceful 

 plumes. 



