* "A^^ 



ISSUED IN BEHALF OF THE SCIENCE WHICH IT ADVOCATES. 





Volume II, 



APRIL, 



1876. 



Number 



2. 



TROCHILUS COLUBRIS- 



OW many of my readers ever went 

 into a forest with the intention of 

 finding a Humming Bird's nest, and 

 found one? Not many I fancy. I don't 

 refer to those ris- 

 ing naturalists who 

 have accidentally 

 found one, or those 

 enterprising cor- 

 respondents who 

 will now rush into 

 print to say that 

 tliey have been 

 shown a nest on an 

 apple-tree in some- 

 body's back yard ; 

 but I mean, to. go 

 deliberately into a 

 great wood, and by 

 tireless persever- 

 ance and applied 

 skill to secure this 

 great prize. And 

 yet it can be done.. 

 Not in a day per- 

 haps—it is a work 

 of time, patience 

 and skill. 

 You must choose 



a flower garden nearest an oak wood in the 

 breeding season. For your first step get 

 the general direction the birds take after 

 feeding, then follow them with your eyes 

 as far as possible. Next take up your sta- 

 tion where you lost sight of them, wait till 

 they go over again, and follow them still 

 again, shifting 

 your place to where 

 you now lose sight 

 of them, and so on . 

 A reclining posi- 

 tion is best in these 

 changes, or better 

 still, by lying flat 

 on your back you 

 can take in the 

 whole sky line. 

 Arriving at the 

 wood, if your 

 Hummer fles high 

 over the tops of 

 the trees, you may 

 as well give this 

 one up, for its 

 home is o ver the 

 wood or in the 

 heart of the grove. 

 But if it plunges 

 at oiiee in the 

 branches you may 

 be encourag'ed to 



THE JWEXICAN TROGON. (See March issiie.) 



