Alabama, 1913. 29 



A BIRD LOVE SCENE. 



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A MALE humming-bird had taken possession of the coral honey- 

 suckle vine and sat there most of the morning, even though 

 I moved about on the porch and went within a few feet of him. 

 After a while he went away, and a female appeared and busily 

 gathered nectar. Some of the time she fed on the wing, but not 

 infrequently alighted on a twig and bent over to the blossom. She 

 was much more timid than he had been. Finally, he returned and 

 they dashed upward some ten feet as if quarreling, but came back 

 together ; and then she perched in the vine and he flew about in a 

 most threatening manner. He darted back and forth past her — 

 going about four feet in each direction. As he flew there was a 

 sound audible which was very different from his squeak or from 

 the ordinary sound of his buzzing wings. It was higher in pitch 

 than the buzz, and was produced each time he passed her. Her 

 head moved back and forth, watching him intently. This was con- 

 tinued for three or four minutes, and then they flew away together. 



— Katherine B. Dolbear in the Atlantic. 



m 



THE CHIMNEY SWIFT. 



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THIS curious bird, resembling the swallows in so many ways, 

 differs essentially from them in structure and is classed by nat- 

 uralists in another family. Before the construction of chimneys the 

 Swift built in hollow trees ; in remote parts of the country some 

 still retain this habit. The nest is built of dead twigs which the 

 bird seizes while flying, and glues together by means of its saliva. 

 On this platform are laid from four to five pure white eggs. The 

 twittering of the young and their unfortunate appearance at the 

 wrong end of the chimney, are recollections of most country-bred 

 children. After leaving the nests, the Swifts spend the greater 

 part of their life on the wing, but unlike the swallows, they are 



