52 EVERYDAY BIRDS 



Many persons seem to imagine that the hum- 

 mer hves on the wing. They have never seen 

 one sitting still, they say. But the truth is that 

 hummingbirds pass but a small part of the time 

 in the air. They are so very small, however, 

 that they are easily overlooked on a branch of a 

 tree, and the average person never notices them 

 except when the hum of their wings attracts his 

 attention. 



One of the prettiest sights in the world is a 

 hummingbird hovering before a blossom, his 

 wings vibrating so fast as to make a mist about 

 him, and his long needle of a bill probing the 

 flower with quick, eager thrusts. All his move- 

 ments are of lightning-like rapidity, and even 

 while your eyes are on him he is gone like a 

 flash, you cannot say whither. 



The hummingbird's nest is built on a branch 

 of a tree, — saddled on it, — and is not very 

 hard to find after you have once seen one, and 

 so have learned precisely what to look for. 

 Generally it is placed well out toward the end of 

 the limb. I have found it on pitch-pines in the 

 woods, on roadside maples, — shade trees, — and 

 especially in apple and pear orchards. The mo- 

 fher bird is very apt to betray its whereabouts 

 by buzzing about the head of any one who 

 comes near it. 



