MACROCHIRES. 119 
Presumably the Swifts must rest at some time, but when 
seems a mystery. We see them only on the wing, never 
perched, unless it be in a chimney near or on the nest. Of 
course their food consists entirely of flying insects captured 
while flying. No one ever questioned the usefulness of this 
strong-winged bird. 
SuporDER TROCHILI. Hummingbirds. 
Family TROCHILID#. Hummingbirds. 
161. (428.) Trocuitus coLusris Linn, 136. 
Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 
Kirtland, Ohio Geol. Surv., 1838, 164. 
This is the only Hummingbird which ever visits Ohio. 
It is common all summer over the entire state, nesting either 
near dwellings or in the woods as fancy may dictate. The 
head contains no poison gland, so the thrust of the beak is 
not poisonous unless the bird has just been feeding upon 
some plant whose blossom is poisonous. 
The Hummingbird is not one of the strongest winged 
birds, but frequently perches for rest. It has brought to per- 
fection the art of hovering and darting as well as forward 
flight, but cannot soar. It is a great fighter in its way, eas- 
ily putting to rout Catbirds, Robins and Blue Jays; not by 
striking with either wings or beak (its feet are too small 
and weak to be used in that way), but by hovering and danc- 
ing close to the bird which it chooses to put to flight. The 
buzzing, jiggling movement seems to confuse its adversary. 
The Hummer reaches our southern border about the first 
of May, but is a week later at the lake shore. It leaves the 
state about the middle of September, often tarrying a little 
longer at the south. 
Probably no bird could long live upon a diet of honey 
alone. It must certainly be true that the Hummingbird eats 
honey, because its tongue is made that way, but it is just as 
true that it eats insects which it finds in the blossoms with 
the honey. It is therefore a useful bird as well as a pleasing 
feature of our flower gardens. 
