MY HUMMING BIRDS. 
121 
We will, however, before concluding, give also to tlie reader 
some interesting passages from tlie observations of other na- 
turalists. Audubon says of the ruby-throated hummer : 
" The nest of this humming bird is of the most delicate 
nature, the external parts being formed of a light gray lichen 
found on the branches of trees, or on decayed fence-rails, 
and so neatly arranged round the whole nest, as well as to 
some distance from the spot where it is attached, as to seem 
part of the branch or stem itself These little pieces of lichen 
are glued together by the saliva of the bird. The nest 
coating consists of cottony substance, and the innermost ol' 
silky fibres obtained from various plants, all extremely deli- 
cate and soft. On this comfortable bed, as in contradiction 
to the axiom that the smaller the species the greater the 
number of eggs, the female lays only two, which are pure 
white and nearly oval. Ten days are required for their 
hatching, and the birds raise two broods in a season. In 
one week the young are ready to fly, but are fed by the pa- 
rents for nearly another week. They receive their food di- 
rectly from the bill of their parents, which disgorge it in 
the manner of canaries or pigeons. It is my belief that no 
sooner are the young able to provide for themselves than 
they associate with other broods, and perform their migra- 
tions apart from the old birds, as I have observed twenty 
or thirty young humming birds resort to a group of trum- 
pet flowers, when not a single old male was to be seen. 
They do not receive the full brilliancy of their colors until 
the succeeding spring, although the throat of the male bird 
is strongly imbued with the ruby tints before they leave us 
in autumn. 
" I have seen many of these birds kept in partial confine- 
ment, when they wese supplied with artificial flowers made 
for the purpose, in the corollas of which water with honey 
or sugar dissolved in it was placed. The birds were fed on 
these substances exclusively, but seldom lived many months, 
and on being examined after death, were found to be ex- 
