346 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



THE HUMMING BIRD. 



Every summer a pair of Humming Birds come and spend the most 

 pleasant part of the season in our grove. He hovers over the bloom- 

 ing flowers and sticks that long slender bill in, sucking up the sweet- 

 ness of the blossoms. They often alight on the boughs and dress 

 their glossy feathers with their long bills in a very dainty manner. 



One summer a pair nested in our grove, and in vain I searched for 

 the tiny home. One day toward the last of the summer, I found one of 

 the young Hummers trying hard to hide from a cat who was determined 

 to catch it for its evening meal. The poor little frightened bird lit on 

 a neighboring rose bush and allowed me to come so near as to stroke 

 his glossy back. But when I made a movement to pick him up he flew 

 away. 



A few days afterwards, on a wet, rainy day when in the garden, I 

 heard a faint sound near me. Stooping down I saw the wet form of 

 a Humming Bird. As I placed him in my hand he struggled as if in 

 pain. His feathers were dry in a short time after he was placed by the 

 stove. I put him in a cage and fed him honey from Four O'clock 

 blossoms. He sucked it up and flew about the cage as though he was 

 as well as ever. About an hour afterward a little rustle was heard and 

 the lifeless body was found on the bottom of the cage. 



Marietta Washburn, Goodwin, S. D. 



(I think the Humming Bird has never been known to live in captiv- 

 ity.) 



ENIGMA. 



My 1st is in jump but not in run, 

 My 2nd in hump and also in hum. 

 My 3d and 4th you'll find in hold, 

 My 5th you'll find in the word abode, 

 My 6th is in coft'e and also in tea, 

 I am a small bird called a 1-2-3-4-5-6. 



Geoffrey J. Giles, Comfort, Texas. 



SUGGESTED BIRDS. 



What birds are suggested by — 



1. Where bread is baked. 



2. A girl's name. 



3. A foolish person. 



4. A colored bird. 



5. A royal fisherman. 



6. An old Indian Woman. 



7. An expedition for fun. 

 ..8. Part of a fence. 



Lewis Stiles Gannett, Burlington Center, Vt. 



