The Anna Hummer 
Taken near Santa Barbara 
webs, which the mistress deftly spreads with her needle beak, the while 
she moulds a hollow with her breast. In this way a noble structure 
can be balanced accurately and lashed securely to the slenderest twig, 
though Anna is rather more given to broad foundations than is the 
Black-chin, say. 
As like as not the first egg arrives while the nest is only half com¬ 
pleted. No matter—the 
half-done hollow will 
suffice for now, and the 
structure will be pass¬ 
ably done by tomorrow, 
when the next arrival is 
due—or by the day after 
at most. As for the 
decorations, they can be 
added any time, a bit 
of moss here and a bit 
of lichen there, or a 
feather snatched when 
the mistress is returning 
from some foray after 
insects or morning dews. 
Your ready-furnished 
flats are vulgar, anyhow, 
and it is much more 
satisfactory to a taste 
like Anna’s to be able to select the adornments of her home with deliber¬ 
ation and discriminating care. 
As to the male bird, he has no part in these festivities. Not only 
is he forbidden to assist in the building of the home, but he is banished 
forever from its sacred precincts. So complete is the rupture between 
these elfin mates, that we do not even know whether the male bird leads 
henceforth a disconsolate existence, wedded to fond memories, or whether 
he presently lays siege to other hearts. These are frail children of the 
sun, and we must not seek to apply our own laborious standards of 
conduct to them. 
Dum vivimus vivamus is the Hummer’s motto—and what else could 
you expect of a creature whose blood is always at fever heat (variously 
estimated at from m° to 114 0 Fahrenheit), and who must forever 
quench a raging thirst with honey? 
Careful and extended experiment has shown that a hummingbird 
may subsist entirely upon sweetened water. It is certain, therefore, 
ANNA HUMMER ON NEST 
Photo by the Author 
940 
