Green, Greenish Gray, Olive, and Yellowish Olive Birds 



absurd belief that the tree swallow buries itself under the mud of 

 ponds in winter in a state of hibernation. No bird's breathing 

 apparatus is made to operate under mud. 



In unsettled districts these swallows nest in hollow trees, 

 hence their name ; but with that laziness that forms a part of the 

 degeneracy of civilization, they now gladly accept the boxes 

 about men's homes set up for the martins. Thousands of these 

 beautiful birds have been shot on the Long Island marshes and 

 sold to New York epicures for snipe. 



Ruby-throated Humming-bird 



(Trochilus colubris) Humming-bird family 



Length — 3.5 to 3.75 inches. A trifle over half as long as the Eng- 

 lish sparrow. The smallest bird we have. 



Male — Bright metallic green above ; wings and tail darkest, with 

 ruddy-purplish reflections and dusky-white tips on outer tail- 

 quills. Throat and breast brilliant metallic-red in one light, 

 orange flame in another, and dusky orange in another, 

 according as the light strikes the plumage. Sides greenish ; 

 underneath lightest gray, with whitish border outlining the 

 brilliant breast. Bill long and needle-like. 



Female— 'WiXhouX the brilliant feathers on throat; darker gray 

 beneath. Outer tail-quills are banded with black and tipped 

 with white. 



Range — Eastern North America, from northern Canada to the 

 Gulf of Mexico in summer. Winters in Central America. 



Migrations — May. October. Common summer resident. 



This smallest, most exquisite and unabashed of our bird 

 neighbors cannot be mistaken, for it is the only one of its kin 

 found east of the plains and north of Florida, although about four 

 hundred species, native only to the New World, have been named 

 by scientists. How does it happen that this little tropical jewel 

 alone flashes about our Northern gardens ? Does it never stir the 

 spirit of adventure and emulation in the glistening breasts of its 

 stay-at-home cousins in the tropics by tales of luxuriant tangles 

 of honeysuckle and clematis on our cottage porches; of deep- 

 cupped trumpet-flowers climbing over the walls of old-fashioned 

 gardens, where larkspur, narcissus, roses, and phlox, that crowd 

 the box-edged beds, are more gay and honey-laden than their 



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