130 OUR SOUTHERN BIRDS 



bird-nest soup, agreeable to the palates of. the 

 Chinese. 



RUBYTHROAT HUMMING BIRD 



Tiniest of all, a saucy Tom Thumb among the 

 birds, is this flying jewel, whose size, chirp, and 

 humming flight are more like those of an in- 

 sect than of a bird. Vibrant with energy and 

 strangely fearless, a pair of these wee creatures 

 will dart out to attack any creature that ap- 

 proaches their nest, whatever the trespasser's 

 size; in fact, the males enjoy fighting, and whirl- 

 ing in sudden squeaking quarrels round the hon- 

 eyed trumpets of the woodbine. Red blossoms 

 are their choice, though they will visit others. 

 The popular idea of these fairylike bits of beauty 

 is that they subsist daintily on the nectar of 

 flowers alone; but this concentrated sweet is not 

 sufficient to maintain such highly keyed vitality; 

 they consume numbers of small spiders and other 

 insects. 



It is the male who displays the ruby throat; 

 but the female is pretty enough, in metallic 

 lustres of green with glints of gold. 



The nest is about the size, shape, and con- 

 sistency of a ball of crochet silk, being delicately 

 woven of soft fibres, lined with plant down (a 

 favorite material for this is the yellowish wool 

 from stems of cinnamon fern), and covered with 



