RUBY-THROAtED HUMMINGBIRD. 369 



especially sought for. In the South the latter plant is often called Hummingbird-vine 

 in consideration of the fact that its flowers are constantly visited by numbers of these 

 birds. In Audubon's unrivalled work, "Birds of America," this feathered gem is portrayed 

 in the position of feeding among these flowers. I have found Hummingbirds nowhere 

 more abundant than at places where the trumpet creeper grows most luxuriantly, as 

 for instance in southern Illinois and adjacent parts of Missouri, where it is seen in its 

 greatest beauty in the alluvial soils along rivers and creeks, and along fences and 

 woodland borders. Often it forms almost tropical scenes, its garlands of gay blossoms 

 festooning trees and shrubs, and swinging from the loftiest heights from tree to tree. 

 In such places the Ruby-throats are exceedingly numerous. 



In my garden in Milwaukee these jewelled bands are most abundant in August 

 when the gladiolus and canna beds are in full bloom. Often five or six are noticed at 

 a time. In my garden in Orange County, Florida, I noticed them in large numbers early 

 in November. The large bushes of the yellow elder or bush tecoma (Tecoma stans and 

 T. veltttina), covered with magnificent trusses of fragrant yellow flowers, were fairly 

 swarming with these birds. They also searched the glorious bush allaniandas {AUa- 

 manda neriifolia and A. Williamsii), the beautiful datura {Brugmansia suareolens) with 

 its masses of pendent large fragrant flowers, and the petunia beds. Many of them 

 remain- in this locality until the first days of December, by which time even the last has 

 departed for more southern regions. When flying they skim over the bushes and waste 

 grounds, rifle the flowers, and are always mingling with the insects, such as butterflies, 

 bees, wasps, bumble bees, etc., so common where blossoms are found in abundance. 

 During their stay with us they may be found regularly at a certain place at a certain 

 time each day. In some seasons the gardens and the festoons of trumpet flowers seem 

 to be wholly alive with them, while in other years they are much rarer. They always 

 haunt open flowery fields and meadows and especially gardens, delighting to glitter in 

 the sun's rays. Rarely, if ever, they enter shady woods or localities poor in flowers. 



The food of the Hummingbird consists chiefly of minute insects which are captured 

 in the tube of the flower with its long, thread-like tongue. While this is at present 

 a well-known and well-established fact, it is equally true that all the Hummingbirds 

 are very fond of the sweet nectar of the flowers, and that this, to a certain extent, 

 constitutes their nourishment. They are able to live for weeks on this substance alone. 

 My friend. Dr. Sigmund Graenicher of this city, an enthusiastic friend of Nature and a 

 distinguished scientist, kept a Hummingbiird for several weeks in his room. During some 

 cold and rainy days in September the bird had been captured, and my friend did every- 

 thing to keep it alive. It searched the flower bouquets on the table and rested invariably 

 on a leave stalk of a Cyperus alternifolias, kept in the corner of the room. When the 

 Doctor entered the room with honey in a tea-spoon or on his fingers, the bird came at 

 once at a certain call and sipped it with its long tongue. This was always done in the 

 usual flying position, and the hum of its vibrating wings could be distinctly heard. The 

 bird was exceedingly tame and fearless. After having satisfied its appetite, it returned 

 to its perch, where it at once began to trim its plumage and to clean its bill by rubbing 

 it against its perch. As soon as the weather became again warmer, early in October, 

 the bird was «et free. As a rule, however, these birds are not able to subsist on nectar 



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