The Calliope Hummer 
finished; but if so, the work 
is carried to completion, and 
the bird cannot resist the 
appeal of proffered uphol¬ 
steries at any time there¬ 
after. The eggs, invariably 
three in number, are among 
the handsomest known to 
science,—whitish as to 
ground, but broadly belted 
with bold spots of blackish 
or sepia. These spots often 
converge, and in exceptional 
instances we have a nearly 
solid belt of color, sharply 
contrasting with the immac¬ 
ulate areas attendant. The 
chicks are black for a few 
days after hatching, with 
some outcropping of white 
down, and for these babies 
the anxious parents will en¬ 
treat in winning accents, 
please or tease —something 
after the manner of our 
Black Phoebe. 
Taken in Arizona Photo by the Author 
A DISTANT VIEW 
MALE VERMILION FLYCATCHER IN MESQUITE 
No. 180 
Calliope Hummer 
A. O. U. No. 436. Stellula calliope (Gould). 
Synonyms.— Calliope Hummingbird. Star Hummer. 
Description. —Adult male: Upperparts golden-green, or shining metallic bronzy 
green; tail chiefly dusky, rufous at base, paler on tips, slightly double-rounded, its 
feathers broadening distally and nearly round at tips, the outermost pair touched with 
white; flight-feathers violet-dusky; sides of throat and underparts white, the sides more 
or less overlaid with golden-green and dusky; a pale rufous wash across breast and 
belly and sides, often faintly suffused with rufous; gorget shining rose-purple (Rood’s 
violet, aster purple, or amaranth purple), the color confined to tips of feathers, which 
are white at base, shot with much outcropping white on chin and throat, and pro¬ 
gressively lengthened with suppression of visible white on lower throat, the lateral 
9*5 
