BROAD-TAILED HUMMINGBIRD. 379 



Though there are other flowers which are resorted to by the Hummers, particularly 

 several species of Pentstemon, they by no means afford the luxurious living the former 

 plant does. It seems evident, therefore, that the moment its progeny is on the wing, 

 and its home ties severed, warned of the approach of fall alike by the frosty nights and 

 the decreasing supply of food, off go the males to their inviting winter haunts, to be 

 followed not long after by the females and young. The latter — probably because they 

 have less strength ^linger last, and may be seen even after every adult bird has departed.' 



"In the San Francisco Mountains, Arizona, Dr. Merriam found them 'very abundant 

 in the balsam belt and the upper part of the pine belt. A nest containing two nearly 

 fledged young was found on the limb of a Douglas fir, about four feet from the ground, 

 July 31. The principal food plant of this Hummingbird is the beautiful scarlet trumpet 

 flower of Pentstemon barbatus Torreyi. During the latter part of August and early 

 September, after it had ceased flowering, these birds were fnost often seen in the beds 

 of the large blue larkspur {Delphinium scopulorum). They wake up very early in the 

 morning and go to water at daylight, no matter how cold the weather is. During the 

 month of August, and particularly the first half of the month, when the mornings were 

 often frosty, hundreds of them came to the spring to drink and bathe at break of day. 

 They were like a swarm of bees, buzzing about one's head and darting to and fro in 

 every direction. The air was full of them. They would drop down to the water, dip 

 their feet and bellies, and rise and shoot away as if propelled by an unseen power. 

 They would often dart at the face of an intruder as if bent on piercing the eye with 

 their needle-like bill, and then poise for a moment almost within reach before turning, 

 when they were again lost in the busy throng. Whether this act was prompted by 

 curiosity or resentment I was not able to ascertain. Several were seen at the summit 

 of the mountain during the latter part of August. They were found also at the Grand 

 Canon of the Colorado, September 12 to 15. They began to leave the mountain during 

 the first w^eek in September, and none were seen after the middle of the month. 



"Mr. Henshaw mentions the marked hostility existing between this Hummingbird 

 and the Rufous-backed species, but adds that, 'in the fall, . when migrating, they are 

 brought by the similarity of tastes and habits into the same localities, and their com- 

 bined numbers are in some favored spots in Arizona simply surprising. The beds of 

 bright flowers about Willow Spring, in the White Mountains, Arizona, were alive with 

 them in August, and as they moved swiftly to and fro, now surfeiting themselves on 

 the sweets they here found so abundant, now fighting with each other for possession of 

 some such tempting prize as a cluster of flowers, their rapid motions, and the beauty 

 of their colors, intensified by the bright sunlight— the gorgets of gold and purple con- 

 trasting against their emferald and bright-red bodies — conspired to an effect not soon 

 to be forgotten.' " 



The foregoing I have quoted from Prdf. Robert Ridgway's excellent work, "The 

 Hummingbirds" (Report of the National Museum for 1890). 



This species is said to be the noisiest of all our Hummingbirds, uttering in its 

 flight almost constantly a sharp screeching or chattering note. It nests in large numbers 

 in thickets of dwarf willows along streams. Like almost all the nests of these, flower 

 fairies, the domicile of this species is very beautiful, being composed of soft plant-down. 



