The Calliope Hummer 
ooze up from the underpinning. Then I bent the limb sharply and 
slashed it with a knife !! *** ? !! .—As my arms were collapsing after 
the exquisite strain, a heretofore unnoticed filament of the birch, drooping 
from a branch above, suddenly began to tear loose from its lashings in 
the side of the nest, upset the same quicker than a wink, and dashed 
out one of the eggs. 
It is not given to a callous public to appreciate the agony of remorse 
which ensued. I neither cursed nor wept, but the stars fell about me 
in great clusters as I sat silent upon the ground and nursed my erring 
head between my knees. Mr. Bowles’ language, however, was beauti¬ 
fully expressive and soothing. The nest—oh, yes, we kept it, and one 
egg—is a shallow, thick-walled cup, felted out of gray bark-fibers, cob¬ 
webs, and the cotton of the wild clematis. The exterior is heavily 
decorated with dead leaves, bark-fragments, and bits of decayed wood. 
It measures mm 20.5 across, and 14 in depth inside, 42 in width by 26 
in depth outside. 
In the Mammoth region of the eastern Sierras we found this species 
in great abundance. They nested in the aspen groves and in the birches 
which line the lower courses of the mountain streams, and, to a lesser 
extent also, in the Murray pines. The nests are duller often, to appear¬ 
ance, than any other of our native hummers, still they are invariably 
assimilated to the color of bark, whether of living or dead limbs. Almost 
invariably the nest is saddled upon some small descending limblet which 
enjoys the protection of a horizontal parent stem. This arrangement, 
while it affords scant protection from storms, guarantees to the sitting 
bird a certain immunity from falling branches. Nests in the aspen trees, 
although frankly exposed, are most difficult to find. The aspens of this 
section are subject to a fungoid growth, or tubercular swelling, which 
raises black knobs of every conceivable size, but chiefly those about the 
size of a Hummer’s nest. As a consequence, Calliope’s domicile is only 
one of a thousand possibilities. 
Accustomed as we are to the confiding actions of Costa and Anna 
Hummers, we have still a surprise waiting for us in the absolute fearless¬ 
ness of the Calliope. Danger simply does not exist to the mind of 
Stellula intent upon her motherly duties. One valiant lady, in particular, 
we shall always remember. Mr. Carriger had traced her to a nest 30 
feet up and well out on a descending branchlet, sheltered by a dead limb 
of a Murray pine. The little lady was on, and she stuck to her post 
with incredible pertinacity. First Carriger poked her with a long stick. 
The Hummer simply tilted her head up in the air and dared him to 
poke any harder. Then I went up and took hold of the bird’s beak 
with intent to lift her off by main force. This was too great an indignity 
