::::::::ax: WALKS IN THE CACTUS COUNTRY ;*:::;;;::: 



traversing Canada, on and on until they sight the snow 

 peaks of Mt. St. EUas in Alaska, far north of Sitka. 

 The little fellows were ever squeaking and humming 

 about our ears, disputing our invasion of their hunt- 

 ing-groiiuds. 



These noisy little claiparosas, — flower-suckers, — 

 as the Mexicans call them, not only flicked the insects 

 from the flower-cups, but spent much time humming 

 through the ditches, low over the ground. We could 

 not imagine their errand, as it seemed hardly possible 

 that they were attracted by the grasshoppers, some of 

 which had bodies larger and heavier than their own. 

 A struo-o-le between a Rufous Hummino-bird and a 

 giant hopper Avould indeed be exciting ! What a sight 

 It would be to see the wee bird perched vulture-like 

 upon the huge insect and dismembering it ! 



When, by patient watching and the dissection of 

 one hummingbird's stomach, we discovered the truth, 

 we found it indeed to be more strange than fiction. 

 Like almost all the birds of the ditches the humming- 

 birds were really feeding chiefly upon grasshoppers. 

 The sentinel Sparrow Hawks seemed to capture the 

 largest insects, pulling them apart before swallowing. 

 Those w^hich were snatched up by the shrikes were of a 

 smaller size, while the finches and lesser sparrows fed 

 upon the partly grown hoppers. We were delighted to 

 find that this corresponding diminution in size, correlat- 

 ing the birds and their food, was even carried a step 



- <i- 51 -^ 



