A NEST OF YOUNG HUMMINGBIRDS. 



Aunt Julia and Bessie had been for a 

 walk on the foothills of the Sierra Mad- 

 ra mountains and returning, were joined 

 at the gate by Ruth and little Teddy, 

 who had been hunting for them. 



Aunt Julia proposed that they should 

 go and sit on the bench under the large 

 pepper tree; and when they were all 

 seated, with little Teddy cuddled snugly 

 on one side of Aunt Julia and Ruth on 

 the other, the latter said : "Are you too 

 tired to tell us a story, Aunt Julia?" 



"Please tell us a 'tory, Aunt Julia." 

 begged Teddy. 



"Now, children, I think that you might 

 let Auntie rest," protested Bessie. 



"I am not too tired, Bessie, and will 

 gladly tell them a story," replied Aunt 

 Julia. 



"Goody !" exclaimed Teddy. 



"It is my turn to choose," said Ruth. 

 "Please tell us about the nest of Hum- 

 mingbirds that you saw at Uncle John's 

 last summer, Aunt Julia." 



"Oh, yes, Aunty, tell us about the little 

 birdies that looked like worms !" ex- 

 claimed little Ted. 



"Well," commenced Aunt Julia, "last 

 year I was spending a few weeks visiting 

 your Uncle John at his ranch near Los 

 Angeles. They have many kinds of fruit 

 out there, and one day your little cousin 

 Neva thought that she would see how 

 many of the trees were going to bear 

 fruit; so she went to the peach, plum, 

 apple, apricot, fig and orange trees and 

 finally she came to the gauva bush which 

 had been trained up like a tree ana had 

 grown to be about four feet high. AVrien 

 she peeped into that what do you sup- 

 pose she saw?" 



"I know !" cried Teddy. "It was a lit- 

 tle bird's nest!" 



"Yes, it was a Hummingbird's nest 

 which was not more than an inch and 

 one-half across, and in it were two tiny 

 white eggs that looked much like beans. 

 The kind that mamma bakes and you 

 are so fond of, Teddy." 



"Teddy smacked his lips at the 

 thought of the beans and Ruth ex- 



claimed : "Oh, Aunty, you make me hun- 

 gry!" 



"Of course, all the children in the 

 neighborhood, as well as many of the 

 mammas, came to see the tiny nest and 

 eggs. The mother bird was very tame 

 and would allow all to come within three 

 feet of the nest while she was o*n it : but 

 if we went much closer she would dart 

 away and light upon a tree near by or 

 hover around our heads until we stepped 

 back, when she would settle down upon 

 the nest again,, making such a dainty 

 picture." 



"Did the mamma bird stay upon the 

 nest all the time, Aunt Julia?" asked 

 Bessie. 



"No, she would only remain there a 

 short time, when she would fly away and 

 buzz from flower to flower sipping honey 

 as you have seen the Hummingbirds 

 around here doing. Every day we 

 peeped into the nest to see if the eggs had 

 hatched, but for seven days we looked 

 in vain. Finally one of the girls an- 

 nounced that there was one little bird 

 in the nest, and the next day there were 

 two little birds instead of the eggs." 



"Oh !" exclaimed Teddy. "Where did 

 they come from?" 



"Out of the little eggs, Teddy," ex- 

 plained Ruth. 



"Tell us how the little birds looked," 

 said Bessie. 



"Well, they were the homeliest little 

 things that I ever saw ! All young birds 

 are homely, but these little things looked 

 more like worms than birds, and seen 

 away from the nest I am sure none 

 would have guessed what they were. 

 They had no feathers, unless the two 

 dark stripes down their backs might be 

 feathers ; no eyes and only very short 

 bills. Their mother did not seem to stay 

 upon the nest at all now, but the hot 

 California sun beat down upon the little 

 babies and kept them warm enough. 

 You know, it almost never rains in Cal- 

 ifornia during the summer time, and we 

 wondered if the little parents knew this : 

 and if thev had been building in any 



