204 LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



about 12.45 p. m. ; the day was warm. The parent's trips were not frequent. 

 She fed the young by touching the poin t of her bill to the tips and sides of the 

 bills of her youngsters, as if to urge or invite them to stir and open their 

 mouths, not inserting her bill over one-fifth or one-fourth of its length. Once 

 she thrust it down half its length into the throat of one nestling, who then clung 

 to it to the very last moment of its withdrawal, apparently reluctant to let the 

 very smallest particle of the regurgitated food miss its way or remain on the 

 parent's bill. The performance was rather ludicrous, as both old and young, 

 especially the voungsters, went through many wriggling and squirming motions. 

 The parent certainly once, upon returning to the nest, brooded the young ones 

 for a little while, and then fed one before leaving the nest. It was interesting 

 to watch the female raise her crown feathers when settled into a more comfort- 

 able position in the nest, and then, upon being alarmed by me, flatten the 

 feathers down, her eyes sparkling with fright. If I winked an eve she was 

 startled, as I stood so near. Once, upon her return, settling- down to brood the 

 youngsters, she kept up for some moments a kind of paddling motion, as if she 

 were giving them a little massage treatment. Her respiration was very rapid 

 after this exertion. Life with these atoms of sensitiveness must be at white 

 heat always. The young were lying side by side, but headed in opposite direc- 

 tions. Both had voided excrement in one case, but the parent did not remove 

 either deposit while I was there. Excejjt for this and a piece of eggshell, the 

 nest appeared clean. The young had a narrow strip of long hairs down the 

 center of their backs. Their skins were a dark, dirty brown ; bills were very 

 short, tipped with a point, and light colored; eyes were shut. No male parent 

 was seen. The nest and contents were left undisturbed for future observations, 

 if it is possible to visit it soon again.'' 



Mr. A. AV. Anthony found Costa's Hummingbird common in Lower Califor- 

 nia, and writes me: "Just before I left the higher benches of the San Pedro 

 Martir Mountains, on May 29, 1893, Calypte anna became rather common, and 

 Calypte costce still more so; both showed signs of early breeding. Valley birds 

 had raised one or more broods by that time. Could it be that these had bred in 

 lower altitudes before coming- here?" Mr. Anthony's surmise that these birds 

 might have already reared one or even two broods in the lower and hotter 

 valley regions is undoubtedly correct, as Mr. Walter E. Bryant, in his paper on 

 the "Birds of Lower California," mentions finding a nest of this species on Santa 

 Margarita Island, on January 17, 1888. This was placed on an almost leafless 

 branch, 3 feet high, far from the water, and contained large young. 



Mr. B. T. Gault, in a recent letter says: "It may be a peculiarity of 

 Hummers in g'eneral, but I found these birds to be exceedinglv tame; indeed, 

 it was almost impossible to keep them off their nests after they had been 

 frightened from them; the female would persist in alighting on the nest even 

 when an attempt was being made to sever the twig on which it was placed from 

 the larger branch. Their extreme disregard for the presence of man was a little 

 ahead of anything I had expected to see." 1 



1 For a more detailed account of the nesting habits of Costa's Hummer I refer the reader to Mr. Gauit's 

 article in The Auk, Vol. II, 1885, pp. 309-311. 



