stay in the temperate zones. They follow the course of the sun, advancing or retiring 

 with him, and flying on the wings of the zephyrs, wanton in eternal spring." 



This characterization, however, is somewhat overdraw^n, as my friend Prof. Robert 

 Ridgway, in his excellent little work, "The Hummingbirds," correctly states, "since Nature 

 has not endowed Hummingbirds 'with all the gifts of which she has only given other 

 birds a share,' the absence of melodious voice being, as a rule, a conspicuous deficiency 

 of the tribe, while the statement, that they are ^always in the air,' is very inaccurate. 

 Hummingbirds requiring the same repose which other kinds find necessary." 



Audubon calls the Hummingbird "a glittering fragmeht of the rainbow," and asks: 

 "Who, on seeing this lovely little creature moving on humming winglets through the air, 

 suspended as if by magic in it, flitting from one flower to another, with motions as 

 graceful as they are light and airy, pursuing its course and yielding new delights 

 wherever seen .... would not pause, admire, and turn his mind with reverence toward 

 the Almighty Creator, the wonders of whose hand we at every step discover, and of 

 whose sublime conception we everywhere observe the manifestations in his admirable 

 system of creation?" 



"The Hummingbirds," says Mr. Robert Ridgway, "more than any other family, 

 constitute the most remarkable feature of the New World bird-life. They have absolutely 

 no representatives in any other part of the world. ... Of all the many families of birds 

 which are entirely peculiar to the rich bird-fauna of America, the Hummingbirds probably 

 constitute the most numerous assemblage, about five hundred distinct species being now 

 known. They abound most in mountainous countries, where the configuration of the 

 surface and productions of the soil are most diversified within small areas. Their centre 

 of abundance is among the northern Andes, between the parallels of ten degrees north 

 and south of the equator, firom which region they gradually diminish in numbers both 

 to the northward and southward, but much more rapidly toward the extensive low- 

 lands of the eastern portion of the continent." 



They are found from Alaska to Patagonia, and from Ocean to Ocean. 



Of the five hundred known species of Hummingbirds about seventeen species occur 

 in the United States, of which all but eight barely come across the boundary from 

 Mexico, and therefore should hardly be counted. Only one species, the Ruby-throated 

 Hummingbird, abounds in the eastern part of our country, while all the rest inhabit 

 the West. The Hummingbirds found in our territory are divided into the following 

 genera : 



1, Eugenes Gould. One species. 



2, Coaligena Lesson. One species. 



3, Trochilus Linn^us. Three species. 



4, Calypte Gould. Two species. 



5, Selasphonis Swainson. Four species. 



6, Stellula Gould. One species. 



7, Calothorax Gray. One species. 



8, Amazilia Reichenbach. One species. 



9, Basilinna Boie. Two species. 

 10, lacbe Elliot. One species. 



