HUMMING BIRD. 209 



universally through nature, viz., that the smallest species of a tribe are 

 the most prolific. The Eagle lays one, sometimes two, eggs ; the Crow 

 five ; the Titmouse seven or eight ; the small European Wren fifteen ; 

 the Humming-bird two : and yet this latter is abundantly more numer- 

 ous in America than the Wren is in Europe. 



About the twenty-fifth of April, the Hummng Bird usually arrives in 

 Pennsylvania ; and about the tenth of May begins to build its nest, 

 This is generally fixed on the upper side of a horizontal branch, not 

 among the twigs, but on the body of the branch itself. Yet I have 

 known instances where it was attached by the side to an old moss-growh 

 trunk ; and others where it was fastened on a strong rank stalk, or 

 weed, in the garden ; but these cases are rare. In the woods it very 

 often chooses a white oak sapling to build on ; and in the orchard, or 

 garden, selects a pear-tree for that purpose. The branch is seldom 

 more than ten feet from the ground. The nest is about an inch in 

 diameter, and as much in depth. A very complete one is now lying 

 before me, and the materials of which it is composed are as fol- 

 lows : — The outward coat is formed of small pieces of a species of 

 bluish gray lichen that vegetates on old trees and fences, thickly glued 

 on with the saliva of the bird, giving firmness and consistency to the 

 whole, as well as keeping out moisture. Within this are thick matted 

 layers of the fine wings of certain flying seeds, closely laid together ; 

 and, lastly, the downy substance from the great mullein, and from the 

 stalks of the common fern, lines the whole. The base of the nest is 

 continued round the stem of the branch, to which it closely adheres ; 

 and, when viewed from below, appears a mere mossy knot or accidental 

 protuberance. The eggs are two, pure white and of equal thickness at 

 both ends. The nest and eggs in the plate were copied with great 

 precision and by actual measurement, from one just taken in from the 

 woods. On a person's approaching their nest, the little proprietors 

 dart around with a humming sound, passing frequently within a few 

 inches of one's head; and should the young be newly hatched, the 

 female will resume her place on the nest even while you stand within 

 a yard or two of the spot. The precise period of incubation I am 

 unable to give ; but the young are in the habit, a short time before they 

 leave the nest, of thrusting their bills into the mouths of their parents, 

 and sucking what they have brought them. I never could perceive that 

 they carried them any animal food; though, from circumstances that 

 will presently be mentioned, I think it highly probable they do. As I 

 have found their nests with eggs so late as the twelfth of July, I do not 

 doubt but that they frequently, and perhaps usually, raise two broods 

 in the same season. 



The Humming Bird is extremely fond of tubular flowers, and I have 



Vol. I.— 14 



