95 



mites into lusty little birds bigger than the nest could com- 

 fortably hold. 



For two weeks the}' were fed entirely by regurgitation^ — - 

 on food pre-digested by the parents. This feeding process 

 is one of the most jaeculiar sights in bird-dom. The parent 

 stands on the edge of the nest, erect and neck stretched to 

 the utmost so as to get the slender bill into the mouth of the 

 little one. The head is worked vigorously and the food 

 "pumped in." It is a process that looks a great deal more 

 like a surgical operation than like a dinner party. 



Hummingbirds, tiny as they are, have violent and easily 

 aroused tempers; no bird is more courageous nor as quick 

 to attack man, bird or beast that threatens its home. With 

 excited "chipperings," they will often dash right at your 

 face like little winged bullets, so that you invariably dodge. 

 Tliey stop when a few inches away, but there is alwa3rs the 

 uncertainty so that one does not dare keep still to see if 

 they would strike. 



Hummers are quite cleanly in their liabits. I never saw 

 them bathe in pools of M-ater, but I have seen them 

 moistened as though with dew from the leaves, and then 

 seen them taking "dust baths" to dry themselves. It is 

 believed that our Hummingbird has a preference for bright 

 red colors and that they like jiarticularly well to feast from 

 the depths of the cardinal flower, trumpet creeper and 

 other gaudy, long-tubed blossoms of that hue. However, 

 we find them very commonly about many of the garden and 

 wild flowers of other colors and about ajjple, pear and 

 cherry trees when they are in bloom. 



Anna Hummingbird. 



One of the most common of the several hummingbirds 

 found in California is called the Anna Hummingbird. It 

 is slightly larger than our eastern bird and the male has a 

 fiery-pink throat and crest, — a beautiful little species. 



As a rule I believe that this species is even more tame 



