1^8 HUMMING BIRD. 



forests, among so many enemies, all its superiors in strength 

 and magnitude. But its very minuteness, the rapidity of its 

 flight, which almost eludes the eye, and that admirable instinct, 

 reason, or whatever else it may be called, and daring courage, 

 which Heaven has implanted in its bosom, are its guides and 

 protectors. In these we may also perceive the reason why an 

 all-wise Providence has made this little hero an exception to 

 a rule which prevails almost universally through nature, viz., 

 that the smallest species of a tribe are the most prolific. The 

 eagle lays one, sometimes two, eggs ; the crow, five ; the tit- 

 mouse, seven or eight ; the small European wren, fifteen ; the 

 humming bird, two : and yet this latter is abundantly more 

 numerous in America than the wren is in Europe. 



About the 25th of April, the humming bird usually arrives 

 in Pennsylvania, and about the 10th of May begins to build 

 its nest. This is generally fixed on the upper side of a hori- 

 zontal branch, not among the twigs, but on the body of the 

 branch itself. Yet I have known instances where it was 

 attached by the side to an old moss-grown trunk, and others 

 where it was fastened on a strong rank stalk, or weed, in the 

 garden ; but these cases are rare. In the woods, it very often 

 chooses a white oak sapling to build on ; and in the orchard 

 or garden, selects a pear tree for that purpose. The branch 

 is seldom more than ten feet from the ground. The nest 

 is about an inch in diameter, and as much in depth. A very 

 complete one is now lying before me, and the materials of 

 which it is composed are as follows : — The outward coat is 

 formed of small pieces of a species of bluish gray lichen that 

 vegetates on old trees and fences, thickly glued on with the 

 saliva of the bird, giving firmness and consistency to the whole, 

 as well as keeping out moisture. Within this are thick matted 

 layers of the fine wings of certain flying seeds, closely laid 

 together ; and, lastly, the downy substance from the great 

 mullein, and from the stalks of the common fern, lines the 

 whole. The base of the nest is continued round the stem of 

 the branch, to which it closely adheres; and, when viewed 



