430 LAND BIRDS 



Monterey northward. So far as I can ascertain, it is the • 

 only hummingbird resident on Santa Catalina Island, and 

 it was the only species I found there. A nest of this spe- 

 cies that I saw was built on the pendent. twigs of the fine- 

 leaved eucalyptus. It was placed on top of a bunch of 

 the seed pods and woven to them with fine spider web 

 and silk from cocoons. Deeper and smaller around than 

 any other I have seen, it measured a trifle less than one 

 and a. half inches in diameter and the same in outside 

 depth. Inside, the cup was nearly an inch in depth. 

 There was no lining, but the fibre of the white and buffy 

 plant down composing it was more apparent and less 

 compact than is usual in hummingbirds' nests. Outside, 

 it was covered with bits of blossoms and strips of bark 

 of hair-like fineness, making it so nearly the color of the 

 grayish green seed pods that only an accidental discovery 

 was possible. 



These hummingbirds are nervous, pugnacious little 

 mites, not tolerating any other species near them, and 

 more or less quarrelsome among themselves ; nor will 

 the female allow her mate to come near the nest or feed 

 at the same flower patch where she is feasting. They 

 may be distinguished from the rufous by the bright 

 metallic green of the back as well as by the difference in 

 their breeding range. 



Mr. Charles A. Allen, who discovered this species and 

 in whose honor it has been named, writes of it : " Their 

 courage is beyond question. I once saw two of these 

 warriors start after a Western red-tailed hawk, and they 

 attacked it so vigorously that the hawk was glad to get 



